One of the most difficult periods of time for me to make photographs is the summer. In Florida, where I live, it is so hot and humid that being outside for even an hour is a truly taxing, draining experience. It is simply so uncomfortable that concentrating on finding an interesting image is nearly impossible, since all you really feel like doing is getting back to air conditioning. While my wife and i try to escape the heat as much as we can, personal and family responsibilities often prevent us from spending most of the summer away from home. As a result, image-making suffers, and it produces a feeling of ennui and a near complete lack of enthusiasm for photography. It is frustrating to say the least.
About the only approaches that seem to bring me out of my "Florida burnout" are the following: 1) going to galleries or museums and looking at the wonderful art work on the walls; 2) examining photographic books by some of the masters and regaining my inspiration from seeing what they have accomplished; and 3) probably most importantly and somewhat surprisingly, going back and inspecting some of my own work produced during the past year. I often find myself quite surprised by past photos in this respect. Images that I thought were okay, but nothing special, now look much better to me. I often find myself wondering why I wasn't more taken with a photo that I printed a few months back, when I simply made the best picture that I could, but then shoved it into a box or drawer, kind of forgetting about it over time. The photographs upon renewed viewing kind of jump out at me, vying for my attention, and reminding me why I made the image in the first place and why I should get out there and make some more, with the hope that the new ones may even be better! The recent images almost seem to shock me into action and start me thinking about where I should go while the heat (and sometimes hurricanes) in Florida are unbearable and unrelenting. It is a wonderful exercise that almost always gets rid of my photo-depression and starts me on the path for the coming year.
Glacial Runoff, Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington 2018