(PV) Finding Your Personal Voice Lesson

Photography_LessonTopBanner.png How Do I Find My Personal Voice?

They Say..... 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words - so what does your picture say about you? How can you find the voice you want to give to your photography?

How exactly does someone go about finding their “personal voice”? It’s different for every artist and often it’s something that’s never quite finished. An artist is always learning, growing, and changing. Their voice or style evolves with them.

In this lesson, you will learn

  • Explore: How have other artists found their personal voice?
  • Challenge: Dig deep – What do you like to photograph and why?
  • Application: What is your personal voice? What makes your artwork unique?

About the video:

Have a look at how easy it is to emulate some of your favorite photographs. We choose our 3 favs and discover how to read a picture using composition, color, framing and settings to help us recreate a masterpiece of our own.

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Hide and Seek

So how exactly does someone go about finding their “personal voice”? It’s different for every artist and often it’s something that’s never quite finished. An artist is always learning, growing, and changing. Their voice or style evolves with them.

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 Find it - Don't Create It!

First, it’s important to recognize that your voice is already there – we’re trying to find it, not create it. Think of finding your voice as an editing process. Examine what you have been doing, what you’re interested in, and what you enjoy. Then let go of everything else.

Since this is a photography course there are some things that we can’t let go of. For instance, you must create photographs that show an understanding of the basic principles of photography. But photography is a broad medium.

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Common Thread

PHOTO20_Art21.png What do you like to shoot? When asked this most photographers will respond with: “Everything.” “I like to capture the moment.” While these are all true, look for something deeper than that. What is it that you want to say? Look for a common thread among the thing you like to photograph the most. Is it a subject? A technique? A message?

How have other artists found their personal voice? Explore the resources on the website https://art21.org Links to an external site.. “Art21 is a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists.” View at least 3 segments, each on a different artist. You can either navigate through the website and choose based on the descriptions, or you can roll the dice and see what they’re currently showing at https://art21.live Links to an external site.. Take notes on how each artist found their voice and how you would describe their artwork.

   

Photography_LessonBottomBanner.png IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS