Transcripts
1. Introduction: [MUSIC] Hi, what if you could break
your creative block by using my method of taking
photos in a certain way. I'm Lucy Lambriex
from Amsterdam. I've been a photographer
all my life, but I first discovered
the full power of creative photography during
a year of self portraiture, about 13 years ago. I also work as a professional
portrait photographer for camera shy people, and I have a large creative
portfolio on Getty Images. I made this class to
help you get back on your creative track no matter what your
creative meaning is. It's all about getting
into the right state of mind to be truly,
and freely creative. I've made this class
because I strongly believe in the power of
creative photography, and reflective writing, it will be both a mental
and physical journey. The class is for you if
you have an open-mind, and a willingness to practice, even if your main creative
tool is not a camera, you can use it to break
free from creative block. Why learn from me? I see myself as a creative guide for
our inner exploration, and I've done my fair share of inner exploration myself
through Vipassana Meditation, and creative photography, and I'm still on this path. I've quite a lot
of experience with creative photography as a
tool for self-discovery, I use it myself, and I use it to teach
others in life workshops, online training programs, and many of my students
have already experienced this in my previous classes
here on Skillshare. This class introduces
five simple, and playful tools to help you get into a creative flow again. Each lesson, I'll
introduce a tool, and tell you what
you are going to gain from doing the
exercise with it. I'll give you a photo
assignment that can be done almost anywhere, you will reflect and write about your experience in your journal, and you'll add some
results to your project. After taking this class, you will know how to
get creative again, even when you feel empty, you will have discovered more
about yourself and you will also feel more free and
comfortable taking pictures. Are you ready for a
creative inner journey, are you ready to
change your mind? Grab your camera or smartphone, your journal, and pen, hop on, and come out a wiser,
more creative, and probably happier person. [MUSIC]
2. Your Project: Before we get going, I want to explain a little
bit in this video about your project and why it's
important to make one. Your project will be
the reflection of your inner journey.
And outer journey, and it will grow
with each lesson. You will share your
results and accounts of your experience,
with each prompt I will give you. All you need; I say it once more: camera or smartphone,
journal and pen. And maybe one or
two things that you have lying around
the house anyway. And all I ask of you is
that you commit. Not to me, but to yourself, to
do the assignments. The photo assignments, and
also the writing prompts. I know from experience that working through these barriers
will bring you further, both on your
creative path and on a more personal level in
other areas of your life. You can download all
the prompts here. Doing the exercises will
help you on a few levels. For starters, your
creativity will be tickled and you'll soon find there's almost
no stopping it. As you're playing with your camera without
too much pressure, you'll get to know it better. By reflecting on the
process and results, you'll get a better
understanding of your work and yourself. It's the beauty of creativity. It comes from deeply
within you and it communicates with the outside
world and vice versa. I strongly recommend sharing your work as it has
several extra benefits. Share your work on your social media channels using the hashtag
#lucylambriex, and share it on
your project page. I'll quickly explain how to do it at the end of this lesson. So why share? It will help you see better. And that sounds a
little bit strange, but once it is online, you can see what you've made more clearly because there will be a slightly bigger distance
between you and the work. This way you will be able to
reflect upon it even better. Also, you get to see it
through other people's eyes. And although it may feel a little bit vulnerable at first, you will soon discover
how beneficial it is to allow your
work to be seen. Even if it's just
a blurred shot as a result of my weird exercises; you can blame it on me anytime. This class is not about taking
beautiful photos anyway. Share it. Be seen. It will inspire other
students to follow suit and gain the courage
to do the same. In the end, you will learn even more from working side-by-side, than from the class. In the next video, I'll show you how to create
and edit your project.
3. How to Edit Your Project: Here is a short tutorial on how to make and
organize a class project. For those of you who are doing
this for the first time, first click the
green button below the class under
Project and Resources, it will allow you
to create a project that is associated
with this class. Add a title and a
project cover image. Change this with each lesson so other students and I can
see you've made a change. That way we can all leave
a comment and support you. Then add your photos for the first assignment and write a short account of
your experience. When you add a picture, make sure to put the cursor where you want the
image to appear. You can format your text using keyboard shortcuts like
Control or Command B, I or U, or by clicking the pop-up menu that appears
when you select a word. As you will be adding new
photos for each assignment, make sure to keep
things a little organized or it can
become frustrating. I suggest adding the
newest pictures and stories above the others
and adding a heading. As a routine, change
the cover image whenever you add new
photos and also add that same photo in the project itself so it won't get lost when you
change the cover image. Add tags if you like so more students can find your
project and the class. Happy project creation
and make sure to comment on other students
projects as well.
4. Tunnel Vision: [MUSIC] The first tool is called tunnel vision
for a good reason. You will look through
it and take photos. While surrendering
to the assignment, you'll probably
calm your senses, discover some things
about yourself, and your creativity will
start flowing again. When we feel blocked creatively, it usually means
one of two things. We think we have no ideas, or we have too many and can't seem to act upon any of those. Our mind can't decide and our inner critic tells
us it's all crap anyway. I'm not going to
spend a lot of time talking about the situation, in fact, I'm going to make a whole new class about
the inner critic later. Instead, we're simply
going to do something, as it will work for either
form of creative block. Trust the process
and let's go for it. What you need. A piece of paper, your choice of camera, your journal, and a pen. What you'll learn, to
play with focus and blur, to make choices, and you learn to deal with
and surrender to what is. The effect of all this will be more mental space
for creativity. [NOISE] The assignment
is as follows. Put your smartphone on
airplane mode and work without any disturbance from
social media or phone calls. Go somewhere where there is enough light with
many things to see, but nothing fancy is necessary. You can choose to
go to the garden, or it could be your
own living room, or simply your bookshelf. Bring your piece of paper, A4 or letter will be fine, it can be blank or
it may have a print, and it can be a magazine even. Stay still for a moment. Look around you and
soak up what you see, but don't take a
picture just yet. Land your gaze on everything
that catches your eye. Now, wipe your lens clean, roll up that piece of
paper into a tube or cone, and put it over your lens so that you can take
a photo through it, point it anywhere
and take a photo, repeat a few times in
different directions. You may check if
you get the focus right and you may
do it over again. But you can also decide that a blurred photo
is fine as it is. The more you allow the
freer you'll become, once you have taken
at least 10 photos, you are done for the moment. Open each photo
on your computer, side-by-side if you can. Look at each photo, write in your journal
what you see, if it makes you feel anything, and what you're missing, if so. What do the photos tell you? Do they remind you of the first moment when you
looked at the whole scene? Or is there a whole
different story? What happens to you
when you see some or all of the photos
are out-of-focus? Can you handle it? Can you appreciate the softness
and abstractness? Don't just look at what you
see at the end of the tube, but take some time to
look at the tube itself, the texture, the colors, and tones, or anything
else you notice. Is there anything
that surprises you? Write it all down. [NOISE] Your project. I look forward to
seeing what you saw at the end of and
inside of the tunnel. Now, share some of your
photos and a screenshot of your journal if you feel
comfortable sharing that too. If not, simply share a few
words about the experience, choose your most
interesting photo as your project cover image. This may be a pretty one
or one that is a mess. [NOISE] Tool takeaway. If you're overwhelmed with
possibilities and ideas, or if you think you are
at a loss for ideas, just roll up that magazine
or a piece of paper, or even your hand
and look through it. Shapes will appear or objects will look
different when isolated, the focused view through the
tube will calm your senses and will help you see other qualities of
what is around you. Add the tube or cone
to your tool belt. Next up is the tool, be a tourist, that will help you see familiar
things in a fresh manner.
5. Be a Tourist: [MUSIC] This tour is just
you being an actual tourist. In your town, in the
park, your home, or that of someone else, you'll be visiting
a familiar spot. You will make a
little visual story and you'll write a review. What you'll learn to slow down and to sharpen your senses. The first moment we
arrive at a new place, our senses are wide open. Everything seems
interesting and different, fresh, and loud. Whereas after a while, this heightened sensitivity for our surroundings changes and we don't notice things
as much anymore. A while ago I bicycled to a client and I had more
time than I needed. I went slower than usual. I looked around. I was on the road I'd
used many times before. But I suddenly noticed
a little area with beautiful sculptures on
the side of the road. I slowed down and got off my
bike to take a few photos, and I went back to film
this so I could show you. I looked at each sculpture and
instantly felt more alive, more awake, and relaxed. While filming, I even enjoyed
this sculpture for a bit, despite it being
rather annoying too. You will be doing the same. But first switch off your smartphone's
Internet connection. Go somewhere familiar,
nothing special. It may be your own street
or your park, as my friend, Fedewa will
demonstrate, but treat it as if you were there
for the first time. Slow down, walk, stand still. Look around you,
sniff up the sense, take some time to see
the colors and shapes. Discover something new. Look at some details. Take at least five
photos that could help you tell a little visual
story of your visit. Don't make it too difficult. It doesn't have to be
the best story ever. It has to be your story, of your little trip. Ask yourself what
stands out for me? Take a photo. What would
I like to see up-close? Take a photo. Look down at your feet and look at
what they're standing on. Is there something or
someone funny or cute? Also, take one or two selfies with something you'll find
interesting are pretty, be a real tourist. Please note, these questions are just examples
to get you going. You can do this exactly
in your own way. Will you stay indoors, visit, and explore the room
in the same manner. Go slowly and be curious. [MUSIC] Journal entry. Describe in a few words
what you noticed when you slow down and started
looking at simple things. Did you like it? Did it
annoy you in any way? Was there a shift in how you experience the
space, the objects? Was there anything else? Your project, share
your visual story, your selfie, and
some words about how this assignment
made you feel. How would you describe this
place to another tourist? Write a review of your visit, like an entry for
Tripadvisor or Airbnb. Would you visit again? Why or why not? Tool take-away, looking at familiar places and things with more attention and
taking photos as if you were a tourist will give
you a new perspective. Be a tourist now and then, sharpen your senses and rediscover the magic
and simple things. In the next lesson, you'll explore the
tool points of view. It will make you see things
through other people's eyes.
6. Points of View: [MUSIC] The tool for this
lesson is called points of view and it will ask for
some extra sets of eyes. You will create an
abstract image and you'll ask five friends to tell
you what they see in it. [MUSIC] What you'll learn, you'll get a closer look
at how you see the world, thanks to how other see it. You will get a taste of the many points of
view there are, and you will remember this next time you want to make
something and doubt yourself. You know how we can make
things more difficult by wondering what other
people might think. Depending on what we've
experienced in our lives, what type of
personality we have, what we've been taught, we look at any situation
in a certain way, and it may mean
something completely different than to someone else. I find this very exciting
because it reminds me of how I create my
own world in my mind. The more aware I become of
the filter I look through, be it pink glasses
or a dark cloud, the more I learn about
myself and about others. You may have heard of the famous or infamous test
called the Rorschach test, named after its creator
Swiss psychologists Hermann Rorschach. You would ask his
subjects to describe what they saw in
abstract ink blots. He thought he would be
able to conclude something about their psychological
state or even disorder. An experience I had reminds me a little of
these ink blots and the wide variety of
people's points of view on one and
the same subject, I recently cut my krentenbol
a bun stuffed with raisins and asked my followers on Facebook and Instagram
what they saw. It was fun and interesting
how they responded. On Instagram, there was a
lot of kissing going on. But on Facebook,
breasts, butterfly, a crab were present as well and some down to Earth views of the bone and raisins themselves. Everyone is different, and now it's your turn. But first put your
phone on airplane mode. [MUSIC] Take an abstract photo. It can be dried flower, a bunch of sticks and extreme
close-up or something, a strange angle to
a familiar object. Anything goes as
long as it is not one particular
recognizable object. [NOISE] Turn it around, look at it from all angles. Experiment with blur. Zoom in as much as
is necessary for it to become a truly
abstract image. Then make a mirror shot of it. Copy and paste the image and flip it around so
it is mirrored. You can try different
combinations to find the most
interesting one. [MUSIC] Very easy to use and
free program is Canva. [MUSIC] Journal entry. Then write in your journal
what you see in this photo. Post your photo on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram
or send it to friends in another
manner and have at least five other people describe what they
see in your photo. On the one hand,
an exercise like this will broaden our mind. It will show us the way we look at the world is
not the only way. On the other hand, it
will help us trust our own gut feeling and not rely on other people's
opinions so much. What we see is just as valuable. You have written down what
you see in this photo. Also write down the other
people's responses. Write down some of your thoughts and feelings during
this assignment. Like, was it
difficult for you or easy to make a really
abstract image? Did people surprise you
with what they saw? Did anyone see the same as you? Did you discover something about the way you
look at things? [MUSIC] Your project. Pick a title and
share your photo accompanied with some of the
things the other people saw. Change the project cover
image to this one and perhaps invite some people here to tell you
what they see in it. This might get
really interesting. If you feel comfortable, please share just a little bit
from your journal as well. [MUSIC] Tool take-away. The next time you hold yourself
back creating something, because you fear other
people's opinions , remember this tool. Ask five people
for their opinion, on just anything, and you will feel free again. Next up is a tool, slo-mo, and if you thought
you went slowly as a tourist, try this one. It will sharpen your
senses and will kindly shake you and wake you.
7. SloMo: Before looking through
other people's eyes, you visited a familiar
spot as a tourist. After already getting acquainted with the effects
of slowing down, it's time for something super
difficult and annoying, but it will also be fun. The tool Slomo will make you slow down like you've probably never done before and you will gain something
quite incredible. Sounds good? Let's sharpen your senses
and revive your creativity. What you'll learn,
you'll experience how your speed influences
your creative processes. If you know the famous
Serbian artist, Marina Abramovic, you have learned about her
performance art. She always explores the extremes of physical and
emotional endurance. She's the epitome of
inner exploration through art and she inspired
me for this lesson. I just added photography to it. When I was still in
the Art Academy, she was a guest teacher
and she assigned us an afternoon of slow motion
walking, doing everything. It was one of the most
powerful, difficult, annoying, and mentally most invigorating experiences I had
had until then. If you have an hour to spare, give this assignment your time and your utter sluggishness. If you don't have a full hour, set a timer for maybe
10, 15 minutes. Yeah. Turn off your Internet. [MUSIC] Set a timer for the time you can give
yourself for this assignment. From the moment the timer runs, start moving as slowly
as you possibly can, and start walking
without falling over. On your tour, you'll need to do these things at
least three times. One, spot something on the
floor and take a photo. Then reach out and pick it up, hold it, look at it, and put it down somewhere else. Take another photo of it. Do everything as
slowly as you can, and do it at least three
times with different objects. Did I mention to do this
as slowly as possible? [MUSIC] Journal entry. Write down some words
that describe how you felt during this exercise. Describe if and how you felt
your awareness changing. How did your senses
behave themselves? Did you see or
hear more clearly? How about your inner critic? Could they keep up with
your pace? Your project. Change the project cover image to one of your most
interesting photos. Share some of your
words and anything you experienced regarding your
senses and awareness changing. I'm super curious about your experience even if it
was underwhelming to you. Tool takeaway. Slowing down to the extreme will not only be
strange and difficult, it will wake you up
and inject you with a renewed sense of creativity and awareness
of what is around you. Use it at any moment you feel overwhelmed or just too speedy. It works within minutes
or even seconds. After reconnecting
with your inner snail, the next lesson, bend over, will bring some more action. It is going to remind you
of the places you have muscles and you will experience a fresh outlook on
the world around you.
8. Bend Over: This fifth tool, bend over, will not only give
you muscle aches, but it will also bring
a fresh perspective. Some insights about photography and how your own mind works. What you'll learn
to look at stuff in new ways by simply
changing your angle. You'll see things differently, and you'll get new ideas,
almost guaranteed. Today you're going to bend over, crawl into and under things, lie down, look
through materials, climb onto something, and hang upside down. Changing our point of view makes us see things
in a new light. The lamp at the ceiling
suddenly becomes a work of art. The organ turns into an
abstract composition. The simple fallen leaves seem
like a wonder of nature, and the online teacher
is actually a frog. Now pick a topic that you
are very familiar with, like a glass, and take a photo the way
you normally see it at eye level view or in this case a little bit from
a higher higher. Now take at least five
different photos from different angles the way you
never look at your object. I'm showing you the lazy
version of this assignment, but please go outside and move your whole
body if you can. Study at least one object while looking through
something like your fingers, or a translucent fabric, or even bubble wrap, and look through it, like so. It's really okay if it doesn't
bring you any good photos. It's is not about
taking the best photo, it's just about seeing
things in a new light, and playing with materials
and angles and objects. Don't worry if you have
really lousy pictures. I'm making you do this
so you can experience how these two will
sharpen your senses, free your mind, and open
it up for a creative flow. Take your journal and jot down a few things that
stood out for you, which angles surprised you most? How did you like peeking
through something? Do you know of areas in your personal life that would improve from a different
point of view? Your project. Share a few photos including
the first eye shot. Share a little bit about what
you learned and discovered. Change the project
cover image to one of your most interesting photos. Tool takeaway. If you think what
you are making is boring or you can only
look at it one way, try and literally bend over. Turn upside down,
and look again. Holding a camera will
show you even faster how nothing is boring if you look at it from an interesting angle. Bend over was the last
tool of this class, and I hope you will apply it to more than one aspect
of your life. It doesn't only help
with creative block, it also helps you see
things in a fresh light and it makes problem-solving
more easy. It is truly liberating to
discover other options when we feel stuck in one
opinion or conviction. In the next video, I will briefly recap everything you've
learned in this class. I'll be sharing a bonus tip, and of course, some bloopers.
9. Recap, Bonus Tip, Bloopers edit: I'm so happy you made
it to this last video. I truly hope you feel
your creative juices flowing again by simply
using the tools. Your gaze will have
become different, both wider and more focused. You started or continued with surrendering
to what is there. You will at least have gotten a taste of
what it's like to trust the process and allow
what wants to happen. You started to
realize more and more how your opinion and
feeling about something, anything, happens because of
how you look at something. You have used your journal as a means to reflect
on your work and may have discovered it as your private safe space
available at all times. It helps to keep a
little bit of distance between ourselves and our
thoughts and feelings. We can rest our minds when we don't have
to remember it all. Here's a little bonus tip. Remember to play, play in
whichever way you can. Have playful thoughts and
get that body into motion. Pick up something
and throw it into the air and try to capture it. Playing has at
least two benefits. It will help you relax and it will help you focus
on one thing. This will calm your mind and help you prepare for new ideas. My final tip is to
print out the document Toolbelt.pdf and put it
in your wallet or pocket. For the coming weeks or months, play and work with the tools
and turn them into habits. Just make them part
of your practice and use them when your mind is making things difficult for you. I hope you've enjoyed this
class and I would be very grateful if you could
leave me a short review. This will help
other students know what to expect from this class, and it will make me happy too. Please share some of your work on social media
with the #LUCYLAMBRIEX, and follow me here on
Skillshare and on Instagram. You're always welcome to come
back and ask me questions. You can simply start
a discussion below this class and if
you haven't already, please have a look
at my other classes, like my bite-size
lighting class, Master the Light and
Mood of Your Head Shots, that will make you more
creative with light, with simple household
materials or Creative Journey, 30 Days of Self Portraits, the fun and slightly
daunting class that will help you on your
creative path as well. Now, go enjoy your tools. Thank you, and see you
in my other classes. Bye. It's like a meditative state where you are awake,
open, and relaxed. All one, what is
there in the moment? Many of my students
have experienced this. [LAUGHTER] I experienced this. Many of my students
have experienced this in previous classes on
Skillshare already. I also work as [LAUGHTER] a professional portrait photographer
for camera-shy people. Please share some of your
photos in the project section. Please change the
cover project image. Please change the
project cover image to the photo that
interests you most. Bye. [MUSIC]
Lucy Lambriex, Creative Confidence & Camera Courage
