Throw away your photography books. I know you want to improve. I do too. At a certain point though, photography is no longer about taking pictures. It’s about communication.
The real challenge is to figure out what to say and how to say it. In terms of photography, or most other artistic fields, it’s called finding your voice.
From what I’ve seen, the most prolific photographers are highly in tune with why they press the shutter.
Starting from why rather than how can have a profound effect on the outcome of your imagery and the way it connects with the viewer.
For me, books about creativity have helped shape my voice, vision, and skills, more than any book on photography ever has.
My Favorite Books On Creativity
Here is my list of six books on creativity that have had the biggest impact on me.
1. The Artist’s Way
Julia Cameron is “an American teacher, author, artist, poet, playwright, novelist, filmmaker, pigeon fancier, composer, and journalist,” and the ex-wife of Martin Scorsese.
She’s best known as the author of The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, and became the book that launched a genre. Even though it was published over 25 years ago, and still ranks in many of Amazon’s top 10 best-selling lists.
Her book is like a 12-step program for ‘recovering’ artists. In fact, each of the 12 chapters represents a week of a course you can do on your own or in what Julia calls creative clusters.
A core element of her course/book are the morning pages. It’s an exercise where you sit down and journal each day. Many famous authors and artists swear by it.
The Artist’s Way is intense, soul-searching, thought-provoking, and full of transformative exercises if you’re willing to do the work. I’m not sure it’d be the first book on creativity I’d read. But it would surely be the cornerstone of my artistic library.
2. Kleon’s ‘Creative Trilogy’
Austin Kleon describes himself as “a writer who draws.” What I like about his books are that they’re highly practical, full of actionable tips, and easy to understand concepts.
Kleon’s books are written for the Internet Age. For example, he gives some great advice on running a website: “Don’t think of your website as a self-promotion machine, think of it as a self-invention machine.”
So far he’s published 3 books. All are fantastic, although his first and third are my favorites:
- Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative
- Show Your Work: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity And Get Discovered
- Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative In Good Times And Bad
Each book is short, to the point, full of fun drawings, great quotes, and easily digestible concepts. If you’ve never read a book on creativity, I’d start with Steal Like An Artist.
Don’t let the simplicity of his books fool you. Kleon’s impact and insight is just as big as any author on this list though. And lately, his books are the ones I refer back to most.
3. Big Magic
Elizabeth Gilbert is a writer, best known for her book Eat, Pray, Love. She’s also a disciple of Cameron’s, or better, a reincarnation of the creative guru. In fact, Gilbert says there would be no Eat, Pray, Love without The Artist’s Way.
Gilbert took a break from fiction to write her how-to opus, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. You could call Big Magic a lighter, modern, 2.0 version of Cameron’s masterpiece.
Gilbert’s book is by no means a copy though. She shares some great insights from the perspective of a mega-selling author, like what to do after you’ve hit the artistic lottery.
I highly recommend the audiobook of Big Magic. Hearing Gilbert’s tone and rhythm as she reads her work adds a deeper layer to the printed word.
4. The War of Art
Steven Pressfield is an author of historical fiction, non-fiction, and screenplays. One of his books, The Legend of Bagger Vance, was turned into a movie directed by Robert Redford, starring Will Smith, Matt Damon, and Charlize Theron. Great film by the way!
Pressfield’s perennial how-to classic, The War of Art: Break Through The Blocks And Win Your Inner Creative Battles, also lives on in Amazon’s top 10 bestsellers list in its category. His book made ‘resistance’ a household word in artistic circles.
Like Kleon’s books, The War of Art is a short, easy read with powerful ideas. Many of the pages are simple vignettes on a theme, sometimes not lasting more than a paragraph or two.
What sets his book apart from the others, besides his own personal experience, is his tone. Pressfield was a marine, and he often talks to the reader as if they were a cadet in bootcamp.
He basically tells you to stop whining, get over your fears, and do the f*cking work. Pressfield is not patronizing though. His advice is more like tough love from a coach who wants you to realize your potential.
Do The Work
Although each of these creative authors talk about similar concepts, they have their own way of getting their message across.
All of them acknowledge that creativity is something we can cultivate. And that there are plenty of barriers to overcome along the way, be it from society or our own inner critics.
In the end, each of these creative oracles share the same message: Find your why. Do the work.
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