Inspiration...

As artistic people, we are continuely noticing the world that surrounds us. From culture in the cities to nature in the countryside, it is all in some way inspiring to our own thoughts  It is everywhere. But what happens when this inspiration isn't so apparent to us? In order to continue on our creative journeys we need to create our own inspiration by researching, recording and experimenting. 
It has been proved that surrounding ourselves with pieces of work that inspire us as individuals does in fact stimulate our minds to create our own work based on these ideas. Observing and evaluating other artist's technique and work is important as an individual. It could be said that we almost grab this inspiration from other's work and run away with it, to create our own individual and unique perspective on things. 
It is essential that we record such inspiration in several different forms, such as photographing, sketching, collaging, and collecting. As a photography student, I am constantly searching for new photographers and movements that can push and motivate me to create my own work. To the right is some photographic work of Robert Maplethorpe's. I find this individually inspiring for many reasons, one being the style of the photographs, he has a 'fine art'/documentary approach to his work which is one of my particular favourites in photography. However it could be said that Maplethorpe's work is also documenting on some serious issues for example, the top picture is tackling the diversity between the black and white race. I also find the black and white monochrome inspiring in any photograph, particularly Maplethorpe's as it emphasises the dramatic sense in any image. 
As previously mentioned, 'collecting' is a great way to find inspiration. We as artist people find ourselves surrounding our workspaces, bedrooms, bathrooms, with all sorts of pieces of work. Doing so gives us that push and drive that is ultimately needed to become successful. Collect everything that could become useful; a piece of work may not seem apparent to us at the time but it can be inspiring in different projects in the future.  Without other peoples work as inspiration, we cannot develop our own.
For my first project in Visual Communication I have to contribute to making a magazine about Birmingham. As a starting point for this, and because I wasn't to aware of Birmingham's surroundings, I simply went around Birmingham taking images of objects and people that inspired me and gave me ideas for a magazine subject. 

To the left are some of the images I took. These images are very factual and 'tourist' looking, and gave me the inspiration for many ideas. One main idea was to do a factual magazine of Birmingham but with a twist to it, and this has now become our magazine project. I took many images when starting my project and each image gave me inspiration and motivation for several different ideas. This proves that when you need inspiration because it is not so apparent  you have to get out there and find it yourselves.