The Effect of Emotion on Photography

[The_Traveler]

Yes, I've read how suffering artists create, driven by their angst but I know that, when I have a lot going on personally, that I can't work at making pictures.

 

[sleist]

Emotions vs. stress. Whether either causes distraction or inspiration is dependent on the individual and the circumstances of the situation - not to mention the severity and duration of the stress. I find inspiration from strong emotion (negative as well as positive), but too much stress is mentally and creatively fatiguing and distracting. The second part of your statement seems to more about stress than emotions. Regardless, I think you are talking about 2 different things.

 

[JoeW]

First, different strokes for different folks. For some, their art is an outlet.

Second, it's not necessarily that being angry or being heart-broken or being emotionally damaged means that in the moment you'll go out and take better pictures. It's that people who have experienced a lot in life or have gone through a range of strong emotions can use that experience to help create a mood or feeling to a picture (or work of art).

My favorite quote of all time about photography is Dorothea Lange's statement "a camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." For a photographer, perception is critical. And strong emotions can both cloud your perception (and make important stuff around you invisible) but also open your eyes to possibilities and insights you normally wouldn't see.

There's a line among serious musicians that you can't play the blues unless you're heart has been broke. The point there is that music is more than just technical skill with an instrument and the ability to read music...there is an expressiveness that really good musicians have.

 

[Overread]

How we all deal with emotions varies a lot even down to how much of each emotion will affect us. Some can take a huge amount of punishment; others not so much.

It also depends on how the emotional turmoil relates to the work being done and I think sometimes you get the "suffering artist" who is suffering; whose work is poorer but who is still fantastically skilled and (though whatever pressures like paying their way) still able to work to produce photographs.

I think though that for most who have photography has a non-earning hobby there is the chance that there is a period where its a suitable escape from emotional problems and turmoil; but also a limit point at which those problems rise up so much that they are incapable of "turning off" that side of their mind to focus on the photos. If this also results in poorer photos (or perceived poorer) then the elation of the achievement is diminished and as such the reward is less, the ability to distance from the turmoil reduced and thus the capacity for photography to "heal" or "distract" is damaged.


It's a huge mess of things, I suspect some interesting truths are found within and common patterns of behaviour as well; but I've certainly no idea what they could be. There's a lot of ifs and I suspect its due to the complex interacting nature of different elements that makes it hard to predict or pin down a casual association



I can say that for me if I'm really stressed I can't lose myself in photography unless its some kind of trip or event where there are NO other distractions or influences or things to do other than photography. Ergo where the only way to stave off boredom and doing nothing is to do photography - and then only if it something in volume - ergo engaging for a long period of time without break. The other downside is that in such a mood its very easy to be super-critical after when editing to the point where sometimes I just don't if its such a day and will leave things for a whlie.

 

[Mike_E]

It's been said that good photos tell a story and I find this to be true. It may be that those angst ridden artists are simply more driven to communicate through their medium.

Are you the kind of person who talks though their problems or are you someone who keeps quiet until you've worked things out?

If the muses aren't talking to you then make a statement and then go and take a photo that describes it.

Usually works for me anyway.

 

[rexbobcat]

It depends on the emotions you're referring to. If you're talking about the depressive artist; there has been some scientific research behind the subject.

One theory is that depressive people have difficulty processing and communicating intense negative emotions due to hyperactivity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. As a result, they use art and creativity as an outlet for these feelings.

Another theory is that it's not the depression itself that spurs creativity but the upswing from it.

However, even if depressive individuals are more likely to be creative, I think the cliche of the "tortured artist" is a rather shallow way of viewing art, because everyone has suffered in some way. There has to be more to an artist's work than the pain they've felt. Having work inspired by your struggles doesn't make the work inherently more valuable to the world.

If you look at the works of the masters, for example, very few of their images deal directly with the artist's negative emotions. They might communicate something about it on a metaphorical level, but more often, the work does have any overt relationship to the artist's depression.

Much contemporary art is much less subtle in its themes.

You have to create that value by being good (although this is always relative) at what you do and being effective at communicating what you intend.

 

[rexbobcat]

Personally, I've been taking an experimental drug that rids me of all emotion in preparation for the android takeover. I want to have a leg up on being able to assimilate and survive.

 

[Achaicus]

Personally, I've been taking an experimental drug that rids me of all emotion in preparation for the android takeover. I want to have a leg up on being able to assimilate and survive.

What if it is an ios or blackberry takeover?

 

[DanOstergren]

I go through some intense mood swings, and I've noticed my art takes a darker tone when I'm dealing with intense depression. I take on more personal projects that only involve myself and a muse, and I produce less of my art because it becomes more exhausting to create.

In contrast when I'm experiencing a mania I can take on more client projects and am able to produce higher volumes of work. I stay more organized and am able to orchestrate shoots that require a team to produce.

The problem is that the depression is more common than the mania for me, which is why I believe I've never really been able to take that step into being a full-time career photographer. I still love what I do though and love where it's taken me, and without this outlet I feel like I would be suffering a lot more when dealing with the low-points of my mood swings.

 

[KenC]

It depends on the complexities of personality. I find it varies with me, with how difficult my life is not correlating that well with my work. I don't know enough about the lives of famous photographers to draw any conclusions about how it's been for them, but in following music I've seen work inspired by difficulties and also bad work resulting from them.

 

[bribrius]

It depends on the complexities of personality. I find it varies with me, with how difficult my life is not correlating that well with my work. I don't know enough about the lives of famous photographers to draw any conclusions about how it's been for them, but in following music I've seen work inspired by difficulties and also bad work resulting from them.

i just deleted my post. Thought "why do i get involved in these threads anyway, wtf?" and deleted it. see, temperamental. Now i will have to go back and delete this one too.

 

[rexbobcat]

I go through some intense mood swings, and I've noticed my art takes a darker tone when I'm dealing with intense depression. I take on more personal projects that only involve myself and a muse, and I produce less of my art because it becomes more exhausting to create.

In contrast when I'm experiencing a mania I can take on more client projects and am able to produce higher volumes of work. I stay more organized and am able to orchestrate shoots that require a team to produce.

The problem is that the depression is more common than the mania for me, which is why I believe I've never really been able to take that step into being a full-time career photographer. I still love what I do though and love where it's taken me, and without this outlet I feel like I would be suffering a lot more when dealing with the low-points of my mood swings.

I'm somewhat the same only I can't shoot anything when I'm depressed. All of my personal work comes from my more upbeat moments simply because I will have the temporary drive to quell that voice that says "Why start this project when you know it's going to suck anyways." lol

 

[Heather Gresham]

When I am stressed taking photos helps me to calm down. However, I've noticed that I lose nearly all my creativity when stressed. It's obvious if I am stressed because I take a lot of photos of birds and flowers.

 

[DanOstergren]

I go through some intense mood swings, and I've noticed my art takes a darker tone when I'm dealing with intense depression. I take on more personal projects that only involve myself and a muse, and I produce less of my art because it becomes more exhausting to create.

In contrast when I'm experiencing a mania I can take on more client projects and am able to produce higher volumes of work. I stay more organized and am able to orchestrate shoots that require a team to produce.

The problem is that the depression is more common than the mania for me, which is why I believe I've never really been able to take that step into being a full-time career photographer. I still love what I do though and love where it's taken me, and without this outlet I feel like I would be suffering a lot more when dealing with the low-points of my mood swings.

I'm somewhat the same only I can't shoot anything when I'm depressed. All of my personal work comes from my more upbeat moments simply because I will have the temporary drive to quell that voice that says "Why start this project when you know it's going to suck anyways." lol

For me it's a way to get out of my head and make something that makes me happy.

 

[Trever1t]

When I'm not happy I don't want to shoot, or really do much of anything. I think that's normal...?