Blog post 5

This assignment helped me discover so much about creativity and the creative process. Throughout class and the different readings by Csikszentmihalyi I have learned a lot about what makes up the creative process and what it includes. By doing this project I was able to put what I learned to use and see it first hand. I think that the most challenging part of this assignment was researching about different artists in the certain field we chose.

I chose photography, and as I was researching I realized that there are so many different kinds of photography and so many different styles. It was difficult finding a photographer whose style really interested me. However, when I did finally discover Brandon Stanton, I found it very intriguing and knew he was the photographer who I wanted to research about and imitate. After finding him, the assignment became much easier to do. When it came time for me to do an imitation of Brandon’s work, I finally discovered what “flow” actually meant. For my imitation I went to Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, and had conversations with random people walking around. I asked them questions and wrote down what I found most interesting, then I would take their picture. At first it was challenging and a bit awkward, but when I finally got into the swing of things I couldn’t stop. It was so interesting hearing so many different stories about people’s lives. Before I knew it the sun was setting and I wasn’t able to take pictures anymore because it was getting to dark. I lost myself walking around and talking to so many different people. The same thing happened when I did my own creative work. I walked around and asked people what made them happy, and had them write it down on a board. This was so fun that I didn’t want to stop. I could feel the creativity flowing and I could have done it all night.

I don’t think that there is anything that I would change if I could do it again. I think that everything helped make it what it was. I would say that the field I chose, photography, is important to me because it is something that I use in everyday life. Even though I am not walking around with a fancy $1000 camera everyday, I am constantly taking photos on my phone and sending them to my friends or posting them on instagram. It is a field that people don’t realize is used every single day.

I really admired Trevor’s beat that he made. I thought that it sounded so great for someone who is a novice and doesn’t have much experience in that field. To me, creativity is finding something that stimulates the way you think and allows yourself to become fully intrigued and invested in it. Whether its easy to you or more difficult, if it gets your brain working in a completely different way and allows you to fully lose yourself in the work I think that that’s being creative.