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Home » Blog » Inspiration Creativity » WHY WE NEED VISION IN PHOTOGRAPHY – TOP 5 TIPS ON HOW TO CREATE PERSONAL ART

March 5, 2016 by Julia Anna Gospodarou

WHY WE NEED VISION IN PHOTOGRAPHY – TOP 5 TIPS ON HOW TO CREATE PERSONAL ART

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An article about why we need vision in photography and how to make your art personal.

I was asked many questions about vision lately by my students and other fellow photographers, and I would like to address these questions and talk about the concept of vision in photography again and also share some tips on how you can make your art personal, meaning original. With this article, I’m starting a series of articles dedicated to vision and creativity and how to use them to create photography that can stir emotion in the viewer.

To receive the following articles in the series you can subscribe to my blog and they will be delivered to your inbox as soon as they are released.

As you know I’m often talking about vision, about art and what pushes us to create. I have done it extensively in my book and my new video tutorial, and I am doing it in almost every article I write, every workshop I teach or every lesson with my mentoring students.

How vision in photography can help you create and not emulate?

Why do I talk about vision in photography?

I’m talking about vision because I believe that vision is the most important ingredient of art. Further, in this series, I will tell you why I think like this and why I believe you should start from discovering your vision if you want to create fine art photography, art in general.
Discovering and developing your vision in photography is what will help you move from emulating the styles that you like, to creating new styles yourself for others to emulate.

 

INTRODUCTION – THE MEANING OF URBAN SAGA III – NINE SHOT VERTORAMA OF EIFFEL TOWER IN PARIS

I’m illustrating this article with my image Urban Saga IV, which is again a panorama. Technically it is a vertorama created by stitching nine photos that I have taken during my workshop in Paris last year.

Nine shots to create an image may seem a lot but the amount of detail I captured blew me away. You can zoom in or print this photograph at 600% and you can still see detail. I captured the image handheld at 200 mm with my Canon 70-200 f/2.8. I would have set up the tripod normally to take this shot but sometimes I just feel like the tripod is getting in the way of emotion and it is slowing down my vision. So I decided to do it differently and use my body and elbows placed on a parapet to stabilize the camera. And it worked very well.

My intention was not to capture a long exposure image because the conditions in the sky were not favorable and there were not enough clouds but for what I wanted to express in this image I didn’t necessarily need a long exposure image.

Speaking of long exposure, since this is one of the techniques I use extensively in my photography, if you want to learn it you can read my Long Exposure Photography Extensive Tutorial that is a complete guide to this fascinating technique, and you can also purchase my video tutorial Long Exposure, Architecture, Fine Art Photography – Creating (en)Visionography where I describe everything live while talking about architecture photography, fine art and (en)Visionography. The video also comes with an eBook where I present my black and white processing workflow.

The dominant element in the entire series Urban Saga is the subject and I don’t want to focus too much on the negative space of the image but on the positive space. This is why I was not necessarily interested in working with long exposure images for all the photographs in the series. My next image in the series is through a long exposure and you will see it very soon. It is a photograph of the Flatiron building in New York City, one of my favorite buildings of the City. In that case, I considered that long exposure would help to create the feeling I wanted to convey but in some other cases, like in this case in Paris, I wanted to focus more on the subject and lessen the importance of the sky.

The entire series is a story, a saga, as the title says, and it is related to me wandering in the world, searching for things to inspire me, searching for my identity mirrored in the objects  I see in front of me. I am creating architectural photography not necessarily because of the objects I shoot, but mostly because this is how I can expres myself most clearly. But my architectural subjects are a metaphor for something else.  I am always personalizing my subjects, so the way to look at my images is not necessarily to look at buildings, but to imagine that these buildings are persons. You can find my me among these persons and with the right code, you could decipher my entire life. What I’m essentially doing with the images I  create is to write my autobiography.

“I have a vision of life, and I try to find equivalents for it in the form of photographs.”

– Alfred Stieglitz

 

Alfred Stieglitz described the process of using vision in photography in the best way his words explain why vision comes before the photograph and why it is where it all begins.  Your vision in photography originates in your vision of life and this is where I take my inspiration from. It is sometimes a subconscious process and some other times I am actively searching for it and I will try to give some tips on how to do this further in this article.

ART STARTS WITH VISION. ART STARTS WITH DESIRE

Art starts with the desire to create and this is what, under the right conditions, gives birth to vision. Vision is born in the human aspiration to explain the world through self,  and is the sparkle that leads to the birth of an object of art, be it a fine art photograph or any other object of art.


 

DESIRE → VISION → ART → FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY


 

Thinking backward now, I will say that striving for finding your vision is the most important thing in art. Because this is what creates art in the first place. Without vision, there is no art, or fine art photography in our case, no matter how original/impressing/popular/best-selling the subject is, how good your camera and lens are, how much you know about photography and gear, and how perfect your processing skills are.


 

Vision is the backbone of your work and everything else comes next. No exception here.


HOW DO ARTISTS CREATE?

If you want a confirmation for what I am saying you should go beyond classical photography and look at art. Every remarkable artist has a clear vision, a personal way of seeing the world and he turns it into the objects of art he/she created: either they are paintings, sculptures, drawings, architectural objects, or even musical pieces or novels. What you can see as a common characteristic in all these artists is their soul transformed into objects – this is what made their creations become objects of art – the vision of the artist that gives him the sparkle to create.

All these artists needed to learn their craft: how to paint, draw, design or write and compose. Each of them chose one or the other art depending on where he had more talent and what he was drawn towards mostly. Some of these artists were and are photographers. Those who create more than representative photography and touch art are those who create based on their vision and who start from this and not from a technique, or a subject, or their camera. They use all these as tools to recreate their vision and do not see them as end goals.

These artists are able to express themselves regardless of the subject they use, regardless of the gear or the processing technique they use. They do need to be proficient in all these fields because the realization of your vision – the act of turning it into reality – needs other skills too, but they never put their tools (subjects, gear, post-processing) above their vision, they just use them the best they can.

WHY TECHNICAL SKILLS ONLY WILL NOT MAKE YOU AN ARTIST

If you look around you can see many images that are just good skills in photographing or good skills in Photoshop, but that lack life and emotion. They seem to be created without feeling and essence, exactly because they rely only on technical skills. They are not born from vision, they are created without the intention to translate one’s self into an object that will represent him. They have no passion, they have no magic and that sparkle of genius an artist will infuse into his work.
The result is they don’t impress, they don’t move, no matter how perfect the technique they used or their processing skills. They seem as if they were made of plastic.
While other images just jump out of the paper/screen and grab you. They seduce you and you can’t leave them, you need to sit there looking at them till you absorb all the emotion they emanate. These images have the soul of the artist inside. It is clear from the first look. At least for me, it is clear, but I think you know what I mean. This is something that happens when we create following our vision, our own true self and the image we make is a symbolic representation of this. This is what an artist does, a photographer, a painter, an architect or other. They give a shape to their inner self and to the ideas they have: to their vision.

MAKING YOUR ART “YOURS”

Vision is unique and it is what will make your art “yours”. Not the name underneath your image, not the fact that you are the one that produces it but the fact that it represents your vision, this is what makes your art yours.

How do you start doing this: making your work YOURS? The answer is simple: by being clear to yourself. But what does this mean, you will ask? I will try to explain.

I was talking with one of my workshop students recently while reviewing his work and he was asking me how I do for all my images to look like mines, to look like myself, regardless the subject matter, genre (architecture, landscape, motion blur etc.), regardless the series to which they belong and other characteristics that would set them apart in principle.
My answer was:


 

“By letting my images be mine.”


 

In other words by assuming my work and letting it unfold without trying to create something specific or something I know from before. By letting go whatever I know, every time I work on a new image and try to re-invent the world. I never try to recreate a certain mood or atmosphere I’ve seen before, but to create something that fits to myself, that comes from within, that represents me at the moment I create the image. Every image I work on is an adventure, is a struggle, it is agony and ecstasy. Every new image is difficult and it is simple at the same time. I feel it and I struggle to express myself, but I also enjoy the process from the first to the last moment. I love my images and they love me back. And I always find the path I need to go on. I may need more time sometimes, but the path is in myself and the time I spend on an image is in large measure trying to “feel” it, to communicate with it, to discover and recreate its story, to tell my own story through light, lines and shadows.


 

I am my vision, therefore my images are myself.


 

This is how you can create a personal style, by letting yourself be yourself and your images follow you. But to do that you need to be clear with yourself. You need to know what you want, what you need to express and why.
A fine art image is not only a beautiful image, it is a piece of your soul. It is the manifestation of something that existed even before the image was conceived and that needs a way to manifest itself in the world. This is how you should treat your art.

TOP FIVE TIPS ON HOW TO CREATE PERSONAL ART

If I were to set apart a few guidelines on how to make art that is more personal and closer to your vision, I would advise the following that helps me find myself in the images I create.

1. Allow yourself to manifest through your work in the most honest way if you want to really create a personal style and not need to depend on searching for inspiration around you

2. Create a storyline for your image that is inspired by your own life – a story that moves you and could move the viewer through the image you create.

3. Look around you but try to interpret what you see through your personal self and choose from what you see only what resonates with you.

4. Create, don’t emulate.

5. Be yourself and not some other self. Find what defines you as a person and translate it into your work and it will become who you are as an artist and it will create your style.
As Oscar Wilde says: “Be yourself, everyone else is taken”. This is so true in art.

In the next article in this series, I will talk about how to create original fine art photography based on your vision and on your personal interpretation of the world. I will talk about how to use your subjects to sustain your image and implicitly your idea, and about how you can use symbols in your photography so to create authentic artworks that define you as an individual.
You can subscribe to the blog so you do not miss the continuation of this article and the other article in the series, together with my future tutorials.

FURTHER STUDY RESOURCES – FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY, ARCHITECTURE, LONG EXPOSURE

You can find more resources about fine art black and white photography, (en)Visionography, long exposure photography and architectural photography in my extensive collection of photography tutorials. To receive my future tutorials directly via email you can subscribe to my website.

Learn more about how to create fine art photography, from vision to processing and the final image in my book From Basics to Fine Art – Black and White Photography, with co-author Joel Tjintjelaar, in my video course From Vision to Final Image – Mastering Black and White Photography Processing and in my video tutorial Long Exposure, Architecture, Fine Art Photography - Creating (en)Visionography, or by attending one of my workshops.

Julia Anna Gospodarou - (en)Visionographer

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Internationally acclaimed Photographer|Architect|Author|Educator|Founder of (en)Visionography™|FormattHitech GlobalAmbassador|Fineart Prints|Workshops

Julia Anna Gospodarou
_良心の残響 Conscience Reverberation III – _良心の残響 Conscience Reverberation III – Tokyo_
I’m in “reflections” mood these days. Shooting reflections is one of the most exciting things in photography, and it can be one of the hardest too. Sometimes you may get the right angle in a split of a second, other times you may need hours to find that perfect spot. One thing that I found as the most important when shooting reflections is to be flexible, both flexible in terms of approach as well as being “body flexible”. Often times the best angle requires the most uncomfortable position to get it. Which is why we as photographers have to stay fit :)
To learn the secrets of B&W fine art photography processing, check out my latest extensive video course From Vision to Final Image  https://blog.juliaannagospodarou.com/store/

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_Space Tunnel - London_ An example of what I call _Space Tunnel - London_
An example of what I call “Architectural Street Photography”, shot in London - a genre I love to photograph. If you studied with me, you know what I mean when I say Architectural Street Photography. If you don’t, have a look at my website where you can find tutorials about this.
Limited edition prints and more tutorials & courses on how to create fine art B&W photography at https://www.juliaannagospodarou.com/

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_Conscience Reverberation II_ Toronto We do so muc _Conscience Reverberation II_ Toronto
We do so much of what we do out of habit and to conform to rules made by others, many times without even thinking about what we really want. The power of others’ opinion is so huge that it can completely change lives. 
I know so many people who will rather suffer doing things they don’t believe in and don’t like just to comply with what they “should” do or because that is expected from them. What I always want to say to those people is that life is short. You see it passing by so quickly in front of your eyes and it never stops to wait for you if you’re undecided and if you live the life others decide for you. And life is so fragile. We saw it so clearly this year with the pandemic. We see it every day in people regretting they didn’t chase their dreams and what they believed, in people who lived according to principles that weren’t theirs. 
We are so privileged to live this life. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I think of this, when I am aware of it. I feel tears coming to my eyes in those moments. Tears of awe. I just wish we were all aware of this in every moment and we could all live the life we truly want. That we all dared to go for it and be happy. It is why we are here, after all. To be unique and to experience life to its fullest. This is what I wish you all :) 
www.juliaannagospodarou.com Come visit! 

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_Flow State III – Toronto_ One of my favorites s _Flow State III – Toronto_
One of my favorites structures, designed by one of my favorites architects, Santiago Calatrava. I just realized, looking at my images today, that I have shot a lot of Calatrava structures these past years, in Athens, New York, Toronto, Valencia, Barcelona, Amsterdam and elsewhere. I was also lucky to participate as an architect in the design of the projects he did in Athens. Thus I guess I can say that I have a very special multidisciplinary relationship with Calatrava. :) 
On another note, if you haven’t yet gotten a copy of my latest video course Mastering B&W Processing, you can find it here https://blog.juliaannagospodarou.com/mastering-black-and-white-photography-processing-video-course/ and from what they say, it rocks :) Enjoy! 

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_JUST LAUNCHED_ The moment we were waiting for has _JUST LAUNCHED_
The moment we were waiting for has come! 
The new 5.5+ hours video course FROM VISION TO FINAL IMAGE – Mastering B&W Photography Processing and the 50+ pages ebook Ultimate Guide to B&W Fine Art Photography are now publicly available after a stellar launch to my subscribers yesterday.
Already the reviews are raving so I’m sure you’ll love them.
You can find more details and order them at the link below. 

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_VIPA 2021 Jury_ I have the honor to be part of th _VIPA 2021 Jury_
I have the honor to be part of the jury in the VIPA 2021 Visions International Photo Awards that has just been launched.

I am warmly inviting you all to submit your images to the contest and I wish you good luck to win one or more of the awards. 

Exceptionally, this year the competition will be free as a gesture to help the photography community that was so hard hit by the pandemic. The jury is volunteering and we are all happy to provide our work pro bono to keep the photography community alive and give the chance for exposure to more photographers.

Looking forward to seeing your images. Good luck! 

https://vipacontest.com/

#vipa2021 #photographyawards #photographycontest #photography #fineartphotography #photographyjury
Delighted to have won the Best of Nation Award for Delighted to have won the Best of Nation Award for Greece and be a Top 10 finalist in Commercial Category at WPC World Photographic Cup 2021.

I haven’t entered in photography contests for the past years after I had the honor to win the Photographer of the Year award at IPA International Photography Awards in 2016, but this was different. It was teamwork, and we represented Greece with my fellow photographers at one of the most distinguished international competitions, which makes me even happier to have been awarded. 
We are still waiting for the team awards. Wish us luck so Greece wins. And keep an eye on this space to find out the final results. 

For now, you can enjoy the finalist images at this link https://www.worldphotographiccup.org/wpc_gallery/finalists-2021/

Go Greece! 

Nikos Siamos Akis Douzlatzis Anna Pantelia Prokopis Manousopoulos Babis Tsoukias John Makris Nik Pekridis 

#worldphotographiccup #photographyawards #commercial #fineartphotography #blackandwhitephotography #architecturephotography #oculusnewyork #juliaannagospodarou
Fluid Time V – Aligning Paths The 5th image in m Fluid Time V – Aligning Paths
The 5th image in my Fluid Time series, shot in Chicago in 2013. 
You can find limited edition prints of this and more images at www.juliaannagospodarou.com 
I’m quite fond of this image, and I remember how much fun I had playing with the camera and the geometry to get a dynamic shot of the convergence of these 2 buildings. The image was shot with the 24 m TS lens of a Canon full frame. 
The particularity of this image is that I wanted to emphasize the composition's dynamism even more by using selective focus with the tilt function of the TS lens. One of the challenges was to place the area of focus in the right spot, given that focusing with the tilt function of TS lens is entirely different than the way we regularly focus. It took quite a bit of work and patience to get it right but it was worth it. 
This is one thing you need to have when working with the TS lens, patience. And the second is the desire to think out of the box and play with your gear. I just love doing that. 

#architecture #architecturephotography #architecturelovers #cityview #chicago #chicagophotography #skyscraper #longexposure #longexposurephotography #formatthitech #ndfilters #tiltshift #tiltshiftlens #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #fineartphotography #mono #monochromatic #monochrome #limitededitionprints #Insta_bw #instadaily #architecturelovers #archdaily #photoshop #juliaannagospodarou #envisionography #photographydrawing
Fluid Time IV – Stopping Time This is the 4th im Fluid Time IV – Stopping Time
This is the 4th image in my 2013 Fluid Time series and it shows one of the iconic historical buildings in Chicago, the Wrigley Building. Finished in 1924 and built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, it was one of the first highrises built in the area. 
Here too, I used the tilt function of the tilt-shift lens, as in all the images in the series, and it was actually a quite challenging image to shoot because of the intensity of the effect I needed, which wasn’t easy to create. But the more challenging, the more I love it. Easy images are boring, isn’t it? As everything that is too easy. :) 
You can find limited edition prints of this and more images at www.juliaannagospodarou.com 

#architecture #architecturephotography #architecturelovers #cityview #chicago #chicagophotography #wrigleybuilding #skyscraper #longexposure #longexposurephotography #formatthitech #ndfilters #tiltshift #tiltshiftlens #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #fineartphotography #mono #monochromatic #monochrome #limitededitionprints #Insta_bw #instadaily #architecturelovers #archdaily #photoshop #juliaannagospodarou #envisionography #photographydrawing
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