Your mental state is key to a successful photography career, says Canon research

[Alex Benjamin]

The state of flow is a concept developed in the 70s by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist, and I'm halfway through reading his first book. It is really interesting stuff, but has become just a cool concept to throw around.

Thanks for the reference, Daniela. I will look it up. What you say about state-of-flow being a "cool concept to throw around" also reminds me of how often nowadays you hear about wabi-sabi without people really understanding what it's about.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

check out Csikszentmihalyi’s book “Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.”

Will start there, then. Thanks.

 

[Arthurwg]

I tried to read the article.
I haven't been around a lot of "career photographers" much in recent years, but as far as I can remember, not once did any of them refer to ever enjoying a "feeling of pure bliss and unadulterated focus".

I can say I had this experience last month on a trip to make landscapes. I made about 70 exposures over three days, no distractions, finding my pictures easily and shooting away with my Hasselblad. That came pretty close to "pure bliss."

 

[faberryman]

I can say I had this experience last month on a trip to make landscapes. I made about 70 exposures over three days, no distractions, finding my pictures easily and shooting away with my Hasselblad. That came pretty close to "pure bliss."

Yes, I have had that feeling doing countless activities, both professional and personal, which makes the conclusions from the so-called research referred to in the article rather generic, applicable not only to photography but to every other endeavor.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Isn't this the same as the Zen of Skiing, the Zen of Archery, the Zen of whatever type books?

How about the Zen in the Art of Photography.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I can say I had this experience last month on a trip to make landscapes. I made about 70 exposures over three days, no distractions, finding my pictures easily and shooting away with my Hasselblad. That came pretty close to "pure bliss."

Arthur where can we see some of them?

 

[pentaxuser]

I wouldn't expect much in depth analysis on psychological states in an article in Digital Camera World. The article is just fluff. The writer, however, did meet her daily word quota.

It's terrible to be cynical but the trouble is that it works on so many occasions that it can be positively dangerous to give it up

pentaxuser

 

[faberryman]

It's terrible to be cynical but the trouble is that it works on so many occasions that it can be positively dangerous to give it up

My statement wasn't cynical.

 

[Don_ih]

The article is like The Stepford Wives' Guide to Photography.

 

[VinceInMT]

Isn't this the same as the Zen of Skiing, the Zen of Archery, the Zen of whatever type books?

How about the Zen in the Art of Photography.

Not the same but there are some intersections, primarily about the focus of one’s attention.

 

[pentaxuser]

My statement wasn't cynical.

Fine I accept what you say. In fact I was using your statement as a reminder to me of my cynicism about such articles/ sale pitches etc In my case it had stood me in good stead as the saying goes on too many occasions to consider any serious effort to reform

pentaxuser

 

[awty]

If you are interested in the creative and idea generation aspects of this, check out Csikszentmihalyi’s book “Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.”

What if you never read a book or never had an art lesson, does that make you less creative?

 

[Ivo Stunga]

What if you never read a book or never had an art lesson, does that make you less creative?

Then you get bastards like me: no books, no lessons, just internet and full steam ahead, summoning flow states on command: repair or gardening, or learning new stuff, or just doing photography - regardless the activity, it comes from the ability to 100% focus on and engage with something you truly enjoy or must do with such an intensity, that it doesn't leave a place to worry about anything else like at all. Videogames too: give me God Of War, The Last Of Us and all the classic epic games, and see you a week later or so

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Not the same but there are some intersections, primarily about the focus of one’s attention.

Exactly.

I think it's easy to dismiss the zen references in relation to photography. One should not confuse marketing with ideas. There is indeed a whole industry of "Zen in the art of..." books, but that doesn't mean that many concepts of zen philosophy/being aren't useful and haven't inspired photographers for years.

Henry Cartier-Bresson talked often about how enlightening the book Zen in the Art of Archery by Herrigel was for him, and should be for photographers. Here's an excerpt from a 1974 interview:

For me, to be yourself is to be outside yourself. It's like what Herrigel describes: we reach ourselves by aiming at the target—the outside world... This book, by Herrigel, which I discovered a few years ago, seems to me fundamental to our profession as photographers. Matisse wrote similarly about drawing: set a discipline, make rigor a rule, forget oneself completely. And in photography the attitude must be the same: detach onself, do not try to prove anything at all. My sense of freedom is the same: a frame that allows any variation. This is the basis of Zen Buddhism, the evidence: that you go in with great force and then you succeed in forgetting yourself.

One one the things that struck me most when reading the article is how close what is described is to Cartier-Bresson's own descriptions of his process. The idea of flow, for example, articulated differently, is often mentioned in many interviews.

Another very Zen-influenced creative personality is, of course, John Cage.

 

[foc]

I read the article and I'm afraid it didn't relate to me in the 35 years I shot professionally.

But then I'm probably odd.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I read the article and I'm afraid it didn't relate to me in the 35 years I shot professionally.

But then I'm probably odd.

You are not alone.

 

[awty]

Then you get bastards like me: no books, no lessons, just internet and full steam ahead, summoning flow states on command: repair or gardening, or learning new stuff, or just doing photography - regardless the activity, it comes from the ability to 100% focus on and engage with something you truly enjoy or must do with such an intensity, that it doesn't leave a place to worry about anything else like at all. Videogames too: give me God Of War, The Last Of Us and all the classic epic games, and see you a week later or so

People learn differently for all different reasons.
Understanding the theory of creativity is not necessarily going to make you more so.

 

[CMoore]

Your mental state is key to a successful photography career, says Canon research​

Your mental state is key to a successful photography career, says Canon research

New research shows that a "state of flow" is crucial in maintaining momentum when working as a photographer

www.digitalcameraworld.com

Won't say anything about the article. Curious to read how people will respond to it.

Just like with every other Profession.?

It is funny how many people think that their (Profession-Hobby-Art) interests are somehow unique

 

[Daniela]

Many thanks @Daniela for filling us in on this. I'm not too well at home in the field of psychology, so wasn't familiar with the concept as it appears in this discipline. I do vaguely remember it having been abducted into creativity research, much of which I have always found annoyingly vague from a conceptual viewpoint. I suspect that perhaps also in the field of psychology there has been criticism on concepts of this vagueness, given how this field has developed since the 1980s or so, into a much more (sometimes perhaps overly so) evidence-based and quantitative direction, which favors very crisp conceptualization (sometimes at the cost of construct validity, interestingly).

I can understand your frustration with the vagueness of some concepts related to creativity. This is a huge topic of discussion in my field, art therapy. While things are changing, we often lack the evidence-based and quantitative data that communicates to others -in that seemingly preferred language- how much our work contributes to mental health. Thankfully, neuroscience is becoming a ally in that regard. The perception of our field is already benefiting from it since others can better understand the depth of what we do with the help of brain scans, for example

 

[Alex Benjamin]

I can understand your frustration with the vagueness of some concepts related to creativity. This is a huge topic of discussion in my field, art therapy. While things are changing, we often lack the evidence-based and quantitative data that communicates to others -in that seemingly preferred language- how much our work contributes to mental health. Thankfully, neuroscience is becoming a ally in that regard. The perception of our field is already benefiting from it since others can better understand the depth of what we do with the help of brain scans, for example

Just got my copy of Csikszentmihalyi’s Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. Extremely interesting, takes me in directions I did not expect. Will be my summer reading.

Ordered it online, btw. Did not want to embarrass myself trying to pronounce his name in front of a bookstore vendor...

 

[Daniela]

Just got my copy of Csikszentmihalyi’s Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. Extremely interesting, takes me in directions I did not expect. Will be my summer reading.

Ordered it online, btw. Did not want to embarrass myself trying to pronounce his name in front of a bookstore vendor...

Happy reading!

 

[koraks]

@Daniela, to be clear, my criticism of vague concepts is not so much because of their lack of empirical validation, but the inherent lack of definition. It's a hesitation I have on a theoretical level primarily.

 

[cliveh]

Perhaps it is written to promote Cannon by Chat GPT?

 

[George Mann]

Complete, unmitigated clown-world fantasy!