Generally speaking, I am not one that takes to being given creative assignments to photograph something in particular. I just like shooting what I want. But I also realize that doing exercises ‘forces’ me to be creative and explore photographing things I might not otherwise photograph in ways that I might not normally try.

With that in mind, I decided to join a year-long creative class called Gathering Light by photographer Laura Valenti (a New Year’s resolution may have had something to do with it as well). There is nothing technical or Photoshop-related in the course; it is all about defining your photography goals, getting creative, and pushing your work further. Each week you are given one of four types of short lessons:

Some type of reflection or self-assessment of your photography and artistic goals
A creative prompt to make specific types of images
An interview with a photographer/artist about their creative process
A ‘checking in,’ which I haven’t gotten to yet, so I can’t say too much about that

The first creative prompt was to make photographs lit by candlelight. So I started asking myself, ‘What if?’ My first what-if was what if I were to photograph myself by candlelight behind my shower door, which has frosted glass (or is it plastic?) and internal distortions or carvings in it? This is what I came up with, even though I don’t typically do self-portraits.

I do have another candlelight idea I am thinking about, which I plan to work on and will put in the next post.

Creative Experimentation

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