Chapter 2. Creativity and Photography

TAKING GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS requires more than following seven magic steps. It requires becoming someone new. Great photographs flow from who we are. And great photographs are fueled by new ways of thinking, seeing, and living. To be creative we need to tap into new sources and simultaneously let go of convention. Picasso said it best: “The chief enemy of creativity is common sense.”

In much of our culture and in our day-to-day lives, common sense works well. It’s an easy path to take, and we’re drawn by the initial simplicity and safety. Yet, it only takes a brief time to realize that common sense quickly dries ...

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