Do you find photography therapeutic?

removed account4 · Sep 5, 2012

sometimes ... no but most of the time yes

robbalbrecht · Sep 5, 2012

Yep. 100% yes.

Since my work life is fast paced and digital, film photography is a very nice and welcome change of pace. Doesn't matter if I'm shooting, developing, or printing. I find all aspects of my photography habit very relaxing.

rhmimac · Sep 5, 2012

benjiboy · Sep 5, 2012

Jeff Kubach said:
I find it very relaxing.

Jeff

Your'e like me Jeff , you find everything relaxing

cliveh · Sep 5, 2012

Yes, 100% including darkroom work. I also believe this is so therapeutic that it could be employed more in therapy to relieve stress. Some years ago I suggested a college course for this very reason and it is an idea worthy of experimentation within therapy for people suffering from stress.

Felinik · Sep 6, 2012

Thomas Bertilsson said:
Exactly... For me it's just a way to shut out the insanity of every day life, exhale, and find a place where I'm bothered by nothing. There is only the picture, and trying to do it justice. That, to me, is soul satisfying.

Yup, and it's totally in line with my new life motto "Happily Ignoring The World (tm)"...

Hatchetman · Sep 6, 2012

Usually it is, but sometimes I think I need therapy because of it. I often get discouraged by my limited abilities.

Philip Taylor · Sep 7, 2012

I work for a digital high speed camera manufacturer and spend my days frantically making sure I don't miss the moment..which usually occurs in around 10ms. My job requires connecting cables, dealing with ethernet protocols, software, firmware and dealing with voltages and flickering lights. I love it and I feel I'm the most spoilt person on earth being able to do this, but it's a job and it's frantic.

If I don't shoot with pure analog methods occasionally, I get physically irritated and mentally I can't concentrate in my normal job. This is to the point where a few nights ago I made my own cardboard LF out of a Manfrotto box and trace paper, and used a polaroid back (my 4x5 is being modified ATM) - simply because I "had" to shoot some LF..
To me, this style of photography is absolutely therapeutic and I can't do without it.

LJSLATER · Sep 7, 2012

F/1.4 said:
Honestly I usually find it frustrating, rarely fulfilling, and exhausting.

I'm not as good, thoughtful, or experienced as I want to be, and I feel selfish and nepotistic whenever I share pictures.

..Yet at the same time, I can't imagine what it would be like being into something else like cars or guns, or whatever it is other people are really into.

Amen. I started photography because I can't play music, or draw or paint. But I still wanted to express myself creatively. I thought photography would be an easy way to do that; all you have to do is find stuff, point the camera at it, and push a button. Nothing could have prepared me for the amount of time and energy demanded to become halfway proficient at this. I can't turn back now though....

sly · Sep 7, 2012

Photo-therapy! I'd be a basketcase without it.
My work is intensely interpersonal and is often emotionally and physically exhausting. (Rewarding, challenging and fulfilling too, or it would never be worth it.)
Hiking off into the woods by myself, or locking myself into the darkroom, and not having to talk to anybody for hours is an important balance. Slow photography soothes and recharges me. Even if nothing goes right, and I have useless negatives or botched prints at the end of the day, I enjoy myself.
The computer, on the other hand, is the only thing that has made me weep with rage since my ex left the country.

scheimfluger_77 · Sep 8, 2012

Hatchetman said:
Usually it is, but sometimes I think I need therapy because of it. I often get discouraged by my limited abilities.

Actually this can be a good thing. Everything you do and every effort out in the field yields practice and with that confidence and proficiency. It's all up from here.

Steve

ROL · Sep 8, 2012

Actually, I find therapy to be photographic but then I always prefer a good negative.

Mainecoonmaniac · Sep 8, 2012

As long as there's transparency about your positives.

vpwphoto · Jan 24, 2013

I used to find it therapeutic, but in the past year while carrying a camera, I pause to make an image, then sometimes stop and say, who is it for, will they care, and has it been done?

I can make images of my children and wife, to preserve moments, feelings, or family history, but outside this and paying assignments, I am stagnated and conflicted as to why to create more work that is gazed upon with empty platitudes but no real connection to the hurried viewer or monetary reward through a print sale.

pbromaghin · Jan 24, 2013

vpwphoto said:
I used to find it therapeutic, but in the past year while carrying a camera, I pause to make an image, then sometimes stop and say, who is it for, will they care, and has it been done?

I can make images of my children and wife, to preserve moments, feelings, or family history, but outside this and paying assignments, I am stagnated and conflicted as to why to create more work that is gazed upon with empty platitudes but no real connection to the hurried viewer or monetary reward through a print sale.

There is nothing wrong with simply satisfying yourself.

For example, here in Colorado, the one picture a landscape photographer has to take (and will be judged by) is Maroon Bells. It's the most photographed spot in the state. There are weekend mornings where there is hardly room along the lakeshore for another tripod. Ansel Adams did a wonderful B&W version. Now why would anybody want to take another shot of it? It's been done to death. Anyone can go out and buy any number of truly spectacular prints, even print some off Flickr.

Well, it hasn't been done by me, yet. I've tried and failed. I don't care about all those other guys. I want to make my own. I don't want to sell it - who would want to buy it? I just want to take a beautiful photograph that does justice to one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Maybe at this point you need to tell yourself you are doing it for yourself. Just for the shear pleasure of doing it.

Mainecoonmaniac · Jan 24, 2013

pbromaghin said:
There is nothing wrong with simply satisfying yourself.

Definitely. I find trying to please clients can be tiresome. At times, they want me to knock off somebody else's work. There's a Blues saying "You got to be who you is. If not, you is who you ain't." Be true to your self. If you happen to make money at it, twice as good!

Robert Hall · Jan 24, 2013

Only when I shoot nudes.

EASmithV · Jan 24, 2013

sometimes

tkamiya · Jan 24, 2013

In my everyday life, I am forced to remain highly analytic and mostly linear in thinking. I am also forced to be cautious, safe, and take "do no harm" approach. I am also needing to look at the "big picture" and proceed accordingly. Once I'm in my darkroom, all that goes out the window - or I try to think as differently as I can. Behind the camera, since I'm mostly out in public, this kind of thing is not always possible.

Is it relaxing? NO. Is it refreshing? Often, YES. Is it therapeutic? I'm not sure about that one. I do enjoy using "the other side" of my brain though.

Concerning supportive significant other, I fully agree. I am lucky in that regard myself. We just need to remember to enthusiastically return the favor and support her interests as well.

Alan Klein · Jan 24, 2013

vpwphoto: Mid-life crisis when you wonder about the meaning of life and if anything has value after all. Try a good read of Ecclesiastes.

Another thing that helps is to give away your photography. By that I mean, print out some of the work you like, frame it and gift it friends and families. The appreciation and thanks you will get will kick you up to a higher level. And when you visit their homes and see your work on their walls, you will have a sense of immortality. Just like when you think about your kids. Good luck.

h.v. · Jan 24, 2013

Generally, yes, but it's really dependent on if someone annoys me on the streets. Rarely does this happen, if I do get a reaction, it is generally positive or just a passing note. So yeah, usually going out and taking photos is therapeutic. On the other hand, editing and processing I find very tedious, sometimes disappointing (the photo I was excited about maybe didn't turn out how I thought). It is not fun for me, but after putting in that effort, and viewing nice prints or scans, I have greater appreciation and do find that somewhat therapeutic. I would be a lost soul without photography.

vpwphoto · Jan 25, 2013

Alan Klein said:
vpwphoto: Mid-life crisis when you wonder about the meaning of life and if anything has value after all. Try a good read of Ecclesiastes.

Another thing that helps is to give away your photography. By that I mean, print out some of the work you like, frame it and gift it friends and families. The appreciation and thanks you will get will kick you up to a higher level. And when you visit their homes and see your work on their walls, you will have a sense of immortality. Just like when you think about your kids. Good luck.

I did this sort of a few years ago... I (ebayed) some fine stuff with No Reserve to "get it out there"
I actually said "this a a very fine print, I am not 'discovered', own this piece of legitimate art, and who knows what your heirs will think about what you bought on a whim today"

I also used to travel a lot for Monsanto.. I shot a wonderful landscape in Minnesotta, I took a photo of the nearest mailbox, made a note of the road and zip code and sent it to the farmer a year later with my compliments. That was fun. Who knows what he/she did with it.

flatulent1 · Jan 25, 2013

Sort of. Photography itself is not particularly relaxing for me. Going for a walk, for the sake of the exercise, is not relaxing at all. But when I combine the two I get in a few hours of ambling along, taking the time to look at stuff, stopping to admire the view, shooting off a few frames. The companionship, and the pizza and beer at the end of it is definitely relaxing.

Mike Wilde · Jan 25, 2013

I really enjoy taking pictures, procesing, even calibrating film to know what is needed to get the results I am hoping for.

Then the journey to make prints. I like it as well. Mixing the chems, slecting, the neg, proofing, work print, final print, either in b&w or color with my roller processor, or just mouting slides after a n e-6 run.

Then how to present it. Mount, matte, frame , or into protfolio, or mail away to whoever. Or just into a box to review whenever in the future.

The challenge for me right now is being short on time to indulge my hobby.

I am diligently saving and investing to bail on the rat race and retire early, when hopefully photogrpahy will find a large place in my retirement time.

Alan Klein · Jan 25, 2013

=vpwphoto;1452178 I shot a wonderful landscape in Minnesotta, I took a photo of the nearest mailbox, made a note of the road and zip code and sent it to the farmer a year later with my compliments. That was fun. Who knows what he/she did with it.

That's a great act. Even better he didn't get back to you. Pure charity with no "thanks" back at you.

Do you find photography therapeutic?

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