What photographers and all other artists can learn from David Lynch who passed away yesterday at the age of 78.

Since my young days I have followed artist and film creator David Lynch, and always been fascinated by his deep dark stories. Many with a sense of humour fitting my own. Like the twisted Twin Peaks TV-series or the mysterious movie “Mulholland Drive”.
The creativity of David Lynch, who also was an artist painter, composer and much more is extraordinary. But where does all these ideas come from that are transformed into art, expressed to movies or as photographs in my case. And yours.

Many of us will know David Lynch with his grey high hair, and his signature style was to wear his dress shirt buttoned to the top.

Let´s get back to what I want to share with this post, and that is about ideas. Many photographers, amateurs as well as professionals, from time to time lack the inspiration to take photos, and having an idea of what they want to dot. On my workshops I have a focus on cameras, how to compose and find the light. But inspiration and ideas for photographic topics also is a big part of being on my workshops. Without ideas it´s difficult to create anything.

Ideas are like fish

Generating ideas of interest and finding the mood to use the camera to capture moments or sceneries of interest is about inspiration. Some days it´s there and some days it´s not. In an interview David Lynch came closer to where ideas come from, in his characteristic way of saying things.

“Ideas are so beautiful and they’re so abstract, and um, they do exist some place. I don’t know if there’s a name for it and I think they exist like fish. I believe if you sit quietly like you’re fishing you will catch ideas.
The real beautiful, big ones swim kind of deep down there, so you have to be very quiet and you know, wait for them to come along. If you catch and idea, you know, any idea, it wasn’t there and then it’s there!”
David Lynch

This approach to ideas is what we do with our cameras when we walk the streets. We may walk a lot to seek the moment of interest, where the light is good or where there is scenery of interest. We have to find the fish and catch it to stay in the Lynch analogy.

That’s why working in a workshop group is a good idea to attend to find inspiration. That’s why I lead the workshop through the streets to search for sceneries of interest and generate ideas. Using our cameras to explore life and the small odd and beautiful things that look so different when they are framed in black.and-white or colour.

“What coffee would taste best if it was as black as moonless night?”

The above quote is from Twin Peaks series, where agent Dale Cooper enjoy a cup of coffee.

Coffee has been a favourite of David Lynch since his childhood he has said. And coffee is something I enjoy too. So we have that in common as one small thing. Therefore the coffee and screen picture with David Lynch.
So if you attend a workshop we wíll have some coffee stops on the way, where we discuss and exchange ideas and what we captured on our cameras.
Speaking about ideas. They come when you sometimes do not even look for it. It can be at a Café or come to you in the middle of the night. I try to remember some ideas I have of a framing, light or a camera angle for later. There can be months of waiting and all of the sudden the situation is there, and I can create the picture I have in mind. At other times, more often, its intuition and inspiration from the places I go. If it’s my hometown or abroad.