I resolved to “be more creative” this year, and looking back at what I’ve produced – indeed, I’ve probably taken some strides in the right direction. Yet, I still haven’t gone as far as I’d like to.

While listening to a podcast some time ago, I was reminded of what I need to do, or of how I need to think, if I want to go further in focusing my creative vision.

The podcast is called Lenswork, and the title is “Three Phases of the Creative Idea” You can look it up on the Itunes network.

The Three Phases

I. Reflexive phase

This phase occurs when you see or think of a subject in ways that it’s been presented by other people/photographers/artists before… motivating you to make pictures that “look like” another person’s work. You might think of Ansel Adams when you have a landscape scene before you.

This is not creative… rather, it’s a knee jerk response to create something in the way you’re used to seeing it presented.

II. Responsive phase

You respond to what you’re seeing, but trying to do so in a novel way.

By adding the reflexive view to what I’m seeing, I consider the subject, taking into account how it has been presented to me in the past, while gauging how I decide to react to it in the effort to innovate a creative idea.

Many people get only so far, apparently. “I have a new idea and decide to explore the subject with two frames of reference. How have I seen this before, and how can I show something different?”

Responsive doesn’t fully explore the potential. The first creative idea you have isn’t necessarily the best, mature, most interesting or advanced idea.

III. Frontier phase

Pushing beyond the first two phases, the Frontier phase explores the potential fully by coming up with 5 -10 creative ways to explore the subject.

If this works right, you eventually create something that’s trite, obscure, silly. But once you’ve gone this far, you’ve gone far enough, the edge of the frontier.

He suggests that this is where the best, most interesting work can be created.

Copying someone else isn’t creative, stopping at the first good idea doesn’t result in your best work, but going “TOO FAR” puts you at the edge of possibilities-the frontier.

Exploring my work often means digging into my 100,000k + catalog of photos, re-visiting photos taken ages ago that I – in some cases -haven’t yet considered beyond the initial photograph. In other cases, I’ve taken the photo to phase II, or even III already. But then there are the times I can explore a subject in-depth by presenting it with a recently developed photo, or with a technique in photoshop.

It feels like the most un-productive expenditure digging into the archives- but I have some faith that re-visiting old work at home, sharpens the mind in the field. It allows me to move quickly into phase II and III in the field, as opposed to only during post production on the computer.

How do you think about creating? What’s your process? Do you think in reflexive mode too much, or are you responding and exploring the frontier as well?