Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Peter Lindbergh on Creativity


I've been in somewhat of a creative rut which I am slowly clawing my way out of. People believe that there are no coincidences in life, but I believe that the things we think about we attract. Lately I've been contemplating on my lack of inspiration/ art and while I was trawling through websites of things that make my heart happy, I found this gem from Peter Lindbergh's website  - an essay on creativity. 100% what I needed to read right now.

CREATIVITY
"Creativity is the basis of self-expression. Why are some people supposedly more creative than others, and why can’t others open themselves up enough to be able to express who they are?

Creation is the birth of something, and something cannot come from nothing. When someone creates something: a painting, a poem, a photograph, the creativity comes from an idea, from a feeling, from emotion, or from a combination of ideas, feelings and emotions that are somehow ‘reborn’ from all our experiences and perspectives.

Creativity is the desire to express ourselves. To formulate these expressions, we have to draw from our reservoir of experience, dreams, desires and experimentation and mix together what was, what is, and what could be… I don’t think you can learn it, it is rather something that evolves. Your perception of everything in your life fills up this reservoir.

Some people are drawn to create and express themselves, others are drawn to reflect, to analyze. But in the end, they all could be creative if they had the desire to explore the way in which they are integrated in the world of their experiences. Because creativity is really a rebirth, a true tone we feel for ourselves and for our world. Then our work becomes a real part of who we are. Maybe all this is a question of how deep we are willing to go…"

by Peter Lindbergh with Lily, New York, June 1996

*Image of the ocean shot by me