Too Much Inspiration? Drenched in Art
“What makes a photograph a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time.”
– John Berger
The title is a question I’ve been asking myself recently. Can you have too much of a good thing and too much inspiration?
It all started with the advice that if you want to be a serious photographer you should study the old masters. I’ve always enjoyed looking at art in galleries on a now and again basis so that part sounded really easy. It was! And as I started to get more interested, I took an art appreciation course which fuelled the fire. Then I realised that I was enjoying contemporary art and so I started reading and watching documentaries to find out more about it. As I started to go to galleries to look at art by the few artists I was getting to know, I was discovering new artists by seeing their work up close, which set me off on other tangents of discovery.
This provided oxygen to the flame I’d lit some time ago and I decided I wanted to be more creative with my own photography than I’d been before. So I’ve taken the first baby steps to making my own art.
My 1st piece of work, Landmark Building - Twilight Spin, above, is with the framers right now and should be with me in the next couple of weeks. Previously, I’d uploaded my images to a print on demand site who handled all the framing and provided the frame or mount to the customers’ specifications. Now I’ve taken full control. The print will be large (120 x 90 cm), Diasec mounted, and with a deep blue aluminium frame to match the evening sky. It’ll be a one off, edition 1/1.
It’s been my vision for quite a few months now and I’ve had to go on a steep learning curve to reach this point. So I’m getting really excited to finally see the execution of this dream!
In the meantime, following on from the architectural photography course I took late in 2022 and my growing interest in art, I’ve re-worked my website to focus on those two areas along with selling my own art. It’s very early days with one of each project on the site and my first piece of art but I’ve built the bones which I’ll add to over the next year to become more meaty.
So, back to the search for knowledge and inspiration. Where has it taken me over the last few months? I’m looking at my list and I could write a lot about each item but I’ll stick to the highlights and keep it short and sweet along with one of my photos. These are some of the exhibitions I’ve visited and a few of my personal photography trips. All of these are in London unless otherwise mentioned.
The gallery visits were combined with a lot of reading and many, many documentaries.
All photos below have been taken by me, except the one of me right at the end.
16 October 2023 Peter Doig: New Release 2023 at the Heni Gallery
House of Music (Soca Boat)
11 November 2023 Photography Inspiration Walk around Shoreditch led by me. If you’d like to be included on my email list for notification about future walks email me here.
13 November 2023 Solo trip to the O2 and Design District
The Peninsula Spire
14 November 2023 Solo trip for views over Canary Wharf
8 December 2023 Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirror Rooms, Tate Modern
11 December 2023 Taking photos of Battersea Power Station with a lit artwork of Christmas trees by David Hockney
16 December 2023 Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
Photo collage by Viviane Sassen
17 December 2023 Kehinde Wiley, A Maze of Power at Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, Paris
1 January 2024 New Year on the Thames
17 January 2024 Raphael’s Cartoons, Miraculous Draught of Fishes at the V&A
(This is a very poor quality image, shot hand held in a dark gallery looking upwards, but I like it so much I still want to include it. I would recommend seeing it if you can.)
18 January 2024 Newfoundland Building during the Canary Wharf Winter Lights Festival
19 January 2024 The Founding building at Canada Water - under construction
24 January 2024 Yoko Matsumoto at White Cube, Mason’s Yard
2 February 2024 Andy Warhol: Beyond The Brand at the Halcyon Gallery
3 February 2024 Photo walk with a friend on the South Bank
5 February 2024 Damien Hirst - The Secrets at the Heni Gallery
16 February 2024 Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind at Tate Modern
My top highlight was seeing the Kehinde Wiley exhibition in Paris. I’ve admired his work ever since seeing it for the first time in the National Gallery in London and to see so many of his paintings in one place was a real pleasure.
At last, in answer to the question Can you have too much inspiration? my answer is ‘No’. I’ve really enjoyed my deep dive into the art world and I’m so pleased that my love of photography has now lead me into this engrossing world with all its beauty, laughs, shocks, stories and characters.
My reward was that when I went to decide on my own 2nd artwork and I had what I guess are common doubts: Can I think of another idea I love? Can I think of another idea I have the skills to execute? The answer was yes and it came to me fairly quickly, within a day. Would this have happened if I hadn’t actively been searching out art and inspiration? Maybe, but I don’t think the idea would have come so easily or quickly!
I hope you’re finding inspiration in your own endeavours or activities right now.
Yours
Loren x
In the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, taken by my husband