I'm losing interest in photography - is it permanent or temporarily creative block?

[snowbear]

Pick up a pack of watercolors (the cheap ones with a brush from the dollar store, grocery store or drug store), a pack of paper or even a cheap sketch book, and try painting something. Just the scene outside your window or pick a photo.

Take a phone shot or scan them and post them in the Pastels and Watercolors thread in Creative Corner.

 

[ac12]

Thanks everyone, it really means a lot to know that I'm not alone and you're all so understanding.

It really frustrates me that I feel like I need the validation, the likes, the metrics -whatever- to give me purpose to take pictures. Everytime I go take pictures, in my mind I'm thinking if anyone will like it or not. Then I go share it online and very few or nobody cares, I feel like...what's the point and I start spiraling and thinking about putting everything up for sale.

I hate it and I don't know what to do.

Atleast when I had Instagram, I had an outlet of all kind types of content to make and place and a community there but I always got hooked on the numbers. Something is happening to Flickr for me, honestly though, I'm tired of the platform and the issues. Thinking about just deleting my account.

Try disconnecting from those social media sites, so you are not looking at number of "likes."
IOW, only use places where view and like counts are NOT made.
That removes that feedback, so you don't rely on it.

Another option is to volunteer at a local school.
- High schools are in desperate need of photographers to mentor/advise their yearbook and journalism photographers. But a word or warning, it can be very frustrating to deal with high school kids, who don't seem to want to listen to your advise.
- Or shoot pictures for the school's athletic dept. Many parents are still working when the first game of the day is played, so pictures are really appreciated by those parents. On our web site, only the Athletic Director gets stats, but only at a high level, like number of site hits per month, not by specific pictures or folders.
- The school's music dept would probably love to have a photographer to take pictures at their concerts/plays/etc.
> The thing about school photography is, it is usually the parents that do it. The problem with that is, when the student graduates, the parents leave the school, and if there isn't another parent to take over, they have little or no photographs.
I saw that happen with the baseball team. The parent was taking pictures ONLY while his son was on the team. When his son graduated, he stopped taking pictures at the school.

 

[smoke665]

Why don't you try gifting your best shots. Blow them up, frame them and give them as presents to family and friends when you visit. They’re appreciate them. When you visit subsequently, they might even be mounted on their walls or in a frame on their coffee table, so you’ll get future thanks as well.



Another option is to make a photo book at Blurb. Use 30-40 of your pictures. Not very expensive and you can gift a few books to family and friends as well. Make your pictures have meaning and I think you’ll get more joy from them especially the ones you already have taken.

I tried gifting some prints to family....no thank you, kiss my &&&...nothing. Tried gifting some canvases, again....nothing. Now I don't worry about it. So many of the younger generation today seems to have this mentality that if they didn't pay big bucks for something, it doesn't have value.

The book idea I agree with. I have several "Coffee Table" books that I've created over the years. It's an excellent way to showcase your images. Every time we have company I'll see guests browsing through them. I don't believe that browsing through a book and chatting, have the same negative connotations as looking at your phone and chatting. Surprisingly the books I've gifted seem to be appreciated. There's a lot of good companies out there, in all price ranges, I use Shutterfly. Nice quality, lot of layouts, borders, stickers, etc., reasonable price . Be sure to get the hard covers, because if you put it out there, it'll get used.

In the old days, photo albums/scrapbooks were common, then digital came along with it's sterile click and scroll viewing. To me there's the added elements of touch and smell when you open a book, it has a feeling of substance.

 

[nerwin]

Why don't you try gifting your best shots. Blow them up, frame them and give them as presents to family and friends when you visit. They’re appreciate them. When you visit subsequently, they might even be mounted on their walls or in a frame on their coffee table, so you’ll get future thanks as well.



Another option is to make a photo book at Blurb. Use 30-40 of your pictures. Not very expensive and you can gift a few books to family and friends as well. Make your pictures have meaning and I think you’ll get more joy from them especially the ones you already have taken.

Unfortunately I don't have any friends and very little family. I'm pretty much all alone. Thanks thought, I appreciate it.

 

[nerwin]

Try disconnecting from those social media sites, so you are not looking at number of "likes."
IOW, only use places where view and like counts are NOT made.
That removes that feedback, so you don't rely on it.

Another option is to volunteer at a local school.
- High schools are in desperate need of photographers to mentor/advise their yearbook and journalism photographers. But a word or warning, it can be very frustrating to deal with high school kids, who don't seem to want to listen to your advise.
- Or shoot pictures for the school's athletic dept. Many parents are still working when the first game of the day is played, so pictures are really appreciated by those parents. On our web site, only the Athletic Director gets stats, but only at a high level, like number of site hits per month, not by specific pictures or folders.
- The school's music dept would probably love to have a photographer to take pictures at their concerts/plays/etc.
> The thing about school photography is, it is usually the parents that do it. The problem with that is, when the student graduates, the parents leave the school, and if there isn't another parent to take over, they have little or no photographs.
I saw that happen with the baseball team. The parent was taking pictures ONLY while his son was on the team. When his son graduated, he stopped taking pictures at the school.

The problem is that I live in quite a small town and I really don't want to set foot in my old high school for sake of PTSD

A lot of these kind opportunities seems to be had in larger populated areas where I don't live and I'm not really interested in taking pictures of high school kids. Its been 10 years since I graduated and I still feels fresh in my mind and with my awful social anxiety, they'd kill me. I been laughed at and picked on my entire life and it would happen again and that is something that would be a good idea with my current mental health problems I'm going through right now.

 

[nerwin]

I tried gifting some prints to family....no thank you, kiss my &&&...nothing. Tried gifting some canvases, again....nothing. Now I don't worry about it. So many of the younger generation today seems to have this mentality that if they didn't pay big bucks for something, it doesn't have value.

The book idea I agree with. I have several "Coffee Table" books that I've created over the years. It's an excellent way to showcase your images. Every time we have company I'll see guests browsing through them. I don't believe that browsing through a book and chatting, have the same negative connotations as looking at your phone and chatting. Surprisingly the books I've gifted seem to be appreciated. There's a lot of good companies out there, in all price ranges, I use Shutterfly. Nice quality, lot of layouts, borders, stickers, etc., reasonable price . Be sure to get the hard covers, because if you put it out there, it'll get used.

In the old days, photo albums/scrapbooks were common, then digital came along with it's sterile click and scroll viewing. To me there's the added elements of touch and smell when you open a book, it has a feeling of substance.

Sadly hardly anyone in what little family I now have really gives a toot about my photography. My own parents don't say much, I feel like to them its a waste of time and often looked down upon because its art. So why would I want to gift anything?

The book is something I always wanted to do but in my mind I only think about making money with it and fear of nobody buying one. I feel like I don't even give a crap about my own photos anymore. I just feel disconnected from my photos, only time I feel something is when they get a lot of attention. It's so frustrating!

 

[nerwin]

Pick up a pack of watercolors (the cheap ones with a brush from the dollar store, grocery store or drug store), a pack of paper or even a cheap sketch book, and try painting something. Just the scene outside your window or pick a photo.

Take a phone shot or scan them and post them in the Pastels and Watercolors thread in Creative Corner.

I suck at painting though. I even took art class in high school and the teacher was getting frustrated with me because I just wasn't getting it.

I don't know, I fear the same thing would happen no matter what art form I try, I'd get discouraged and would want validation. I'd get upset because I'm a perfectionist so instead of it relaxing me, I'd feel anxious and angry because it didn't come out the way I wanted. Its never ending cycle I guess.

I like the idea though of trying different art, I'm not really sure if art is even for me anymore. If I don't feel it and I feel like I have to force to do it just because then what's the point right?

I'll look into it though.

 

[smoke665]

book is something I always wanted to do but in my mind I only think about making money with it and fear of nobody buying one.

ear the same thing would happen no matter what art form I try, I'd get discouraged and would want validation

In reading your posts I get the feeling that there's more going on than photography. You seem to have a fixation on validation by others, be it from social media or monetary reward. Self worth comes from within, not from the outside. Its a known fact that, when we see likes or comments, on our postings, the brain release dopamine, which gives you a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction. Unfortunately like most drugs that affect that area of the brain, it can becomes an addiction that requires more and more to feed the habit. Some people see the warning signs and disconnect before it becomes a problem. Some require professional help to get back on track.

 

[santino]

IMO In a society it is illusionary to get self worth only from within (there maybe exceptions like buddhist monks). Just take everything with a grain of salt, try out new things (not photography and art related). And the most important rule: don’t listen to others (including me).

PS: judging from your pictures you‘re a good photographer, but you know that

 

[cgw]

I'm losing interest in drinking. HELP!!!

sticks macgee wine - Google Search

 

[greybeard]

I've lost and regained interest in photography several times, even sold everything off and then had to rebuy it again.

 

[smoke665]

In a society it is illusionary to get self worth only from within

Thoreau advocated self sufficiency and self reliance. Depending on society, he believed, forced people into making compromises that trapped them, and makes them unhappy.

 

[The Barbarian]

Mrs. Barbarian and I have times when we don't do much photography. Last sommer, we took a trip with a busload of fellow Texans, out to cover the path of the Texas Revolution. Apparently, she and I were the only serious photographers, and our Flickr account got a lot of traffic and kind words. It sort of resparked things for us. We are now semi-official photographers for the group.

Sometimes, going to a new location or just a road trip can re-ignite the flame. That works for us, too.

 

[Warfarin]

I have thousands of photos that have only been seen by me. My family doesn’t have much interest either. I take photo’s for me because I like to and I like what I shoot.

 

[ac12]

I suck at painting though. I even took art class in high school and the teacher was getting frustrated with me because I just wasn't getting it.

I don't know, I fear the same thing would happen no matter what art form I try, I'd get discouraged and would want validation. I'd get upset because I'm a perfectionist so instead of it relaxing me, I'd feel anxious and angry because it didn't come out the way I wanted. Its never ending cycle I guess.

I like the idea though of trying different art, I'm not really sure if art is even for me anymore. If I don't feel it and I feel like I have to force to do it just because then what's the point right?

I'll look into it though.

I think based on how deep your feelings are, it may be time to see a professional about this, rather than "self help."