I am someone who loves to add a little extra to my imagery as well as video, and at times I get asked - where do I find the inspiration from? In this blog post, I will break down some of my key sources of inspiration that hopefully gives an insight into my workflow and thinking process.
First lets talk about my background. I was born in one of the most picturesque places in Europe, Latvia, and it’s got such wonderful nature, four seasons and all the colours you can imagine, right there on the doorstep. I was a creative child. The fact I’m the only child and had to entertain myself probably helped me come up with scenarios and things to do. I went to art school, played drama for a few years and fell in love with photography.
INSPIRATION Nr1: NATURE
That is my first stop - whenever I feel a little down and have the time to take off, I go home to recharge. Nature is so accessible back at home I realise I don’t just love it, I become a part of it (if that even makes any sense).
My mum and I often go on small road trips, we stop on the side of the road and walk through the forest. I live near the Baltic Sea so I get a lot of good energy from the beach.
I’m not necessarily a landscape photographer but you’ll often see some nature shots on my page and stories. It’s a big part of who I am and I definitely get a lot of inspiration through that.
INSPIRATION Nr2: LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE
My second weakness is people. It’s cruicial for me to be in constant contact with likeminded people who will gladly grab a coffee with me and we’ll discuss potential projects. I am SO incredibly lucky to call some of those art-driven people my friends and we often end up chatting about life for extra 5 hours and that’s probably the best part of it. It becomes more personal.
Even more so if there’s some amazing styling involved!
It’s not a secret I love fashion photography and mostly focus on portraiture. Styling is a massive part of it. I feel uplifted and ready to get to work as soon as I see the wardrobe the model will be wearing (or make up by that matter). If you’ve worked with me, you may know I tend to jump in the air or make weird facial expressions out of pure excitement. So yes, people with their own visions, stories, creative direction AND wardrobe options is a true inspiration and gets me moving.
INSPIRATION Nr3: MAGAZINES, ARTICLES, ART, TUMBLR, PINTEREST...
Magazines have a lot of beautiful visuals I love to look at, tear some bits out, see the graphic design teams create amazing art on actual pages that you can flick through. I might be old school, but I love books that you can hold in your hands and notes that you can write using a pen (I only recently started using a digital calendar *oops*).
I find Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue to be the best when looking for some inspiration. Even the fonts they use and the way the images are laid out gives me a lot to think about!
The recent Harper’s Bazaar May 2019 issue with Sophie Turner on the front cover got me so excited to shoot again! The editorial was shot by Richard Phibbs and styled by Miranda Almond (what a great surname!) and I even found some behind the scenes footage that I re-watched a hundred times. You can find all the editorials I absolutely adore on my PINTEREST page that is another part of my workflow.
Pinterest and tumblr are my besties. I have been on tumblr for absolutely ages and I have to be honest, I love every single image I have ever reposted. It can get a little messy and it’s harder to find older posts so I save the imagery I find on tumblr onto pinterest so it’s all categorised and put into neat folders. Whenever there’s a mind block or I need to source some imagery for mood boards or visual referencing, I do tend to search through pinterest and tumblr for sure!
INSPIRATION Nr4: "DO NOT DISTURB"
“highly sensitive people and empaths need to recharge daily. If they don't, they will experience anger, sensory overload, physical & emotional burnout and anxiety.”
That’s 100% me. I need time every single day to be with myself and my thoughts. That is the best time for me to recollect my thoughts and come up with new ideas.
It often gets hard with a 24/7 type of freelance job - if I’m not shooting, I’m in a meeting or editing, replying to messages and e-mails or engaging on social media. There’s not a lot of time to sit in a silent room and generate new concepts. But it’s an immensely important aspect for me and the type of person I am, to find time to put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign on and switch off.
Silence (sometimes mild music helps) is almost like a form of meditation - it puts me to ease, I get to fully relax, get rid of all the stress and thoughts that often clutter my mind. And in that way I welcome fresh ideas!
It takes a little bit of tuning into your inner-self to find what it is that spins your wheels, whether you’re a fellow photographer, or perhaps you're working in a different field, it’s important to know if you get inspired by visuals (paintings, photographs, colours), or maybe it’s people, exhibitions, travel or certain motion that gets you inspired. It can be anything and I love how different we all are! These are just a few things I use on a daily bases but I’m sure if I analysed even further, there would be a lot more..
I would love to know your stories, what inspires you the most?
Catch you next time x
Posts
What's your opinion?