How Do I Stay Creative & Productive?

Photography project

"Equal Beauty"

How did I generate my idea/s for this project? Tell the story…

The idea of creating my project came up in the shower, a funny thing but usually a long hot shower helps me relax and awakens my creativity so I can create new things. The main reason for creating my project is a modern reality in which you must be "beautiful" to be accepted and loved. In my opinion, beauty is a relative concept and for everyone, another thing may seem beautiful, so I wanted to show that every body deserves love and respect. No matter what posture, size you are, whether you have imperfections or not - every body is an art.

How did I begin to develop this idea? Did you draw sketches, take pictures, film clips, what experiments did you do?

First of all, after coming up with the idea, I started to write notes about how I imagine the final effect and the poses of the models in the pictures. As in one of the previous posts, I wrote that I did not like the original idea and poses of models, so after creating a few test photos I gave up and started thinking about a different concept. In this way, I searched the internet in search of appropriate models poses and after finding some inspiration, I drew a few sketches that can be seen in the post about sketches (they are not the most wonderful). Reading the information about the feminist art hat is an art movement and body positivity movement was also a great inspiration because in this way I learned more information about how the artists present their works.

What research have you carried out and how has this assisted you with your ideas and helped you develop them?

All the research I did while creating my project was based on the female body. All the artists who somehow inspired me to create my work focused on showing the beauty of the female body, that the body is an art and that women should be respected regardless of appearance because the imperfection that arises on the body throughout his life tells his stories. Like Ana Casas Broda in her work "Kinderwunsch" (2013) she showed her body during and after pregnancy, showing the whole journey and how the body changed after the birth of the offspring, which in my opinion testifies to her tremendous confidence and that it also adds certainty to other women, showing that no matter what you look like, whether you follow your own heart.
I can't forget about Eleanor Antin, who in her work CARVING: A Traditional Sculpture (1972) went beyond the scope of photography, creating something similar to sculpture as the title suggests. Conducting research on it and about this work, I came to the conclusion that art is an unlimited field of creativity.
When it comes to models poses, I was inspired by various photographs from the Pinterest platform where you can find many professional but also amateur photographs.

What is your method of working? Explain how you create focus and space for your creative work?

The method of my work is based primarily on my energy. Before starting any work, I like to be motivated by energetic music that works like good coffee for me. After listening to my favourite song, I start arranging things on the desk, I can't work when I have nothing on the desk, but I do the so-called "artistic chaos" so that it will be easier for me to focus on the task. Then I start browsing the internet for inspiration, I am looking for artists who have done work within my interest. The step I take after this is to create sketches that usually look very inept because I don't try very much, I just want to outline the idea. The final steps are obtaining materials and doing the work.

What does it matter? Who cares?  What universal meaning is there in your work?

Maybe I'll start by answering the last question. The universal meaning of my project is the fact that the female body, regardless of proportions, size, imperfections deserves respect and recognition, because we live in a time where social media create an erroneous image of beauty while leading many women to reduce their self-esteem and acquire many complexes.

Who cares? I think the answer to this question is very simple - women. Every woman has her own complexes that make her sense of value low, which of course does not help with the false image created in social media where we can see perfect silhouettes and lives. Reality is often completely different.

What does it matter? In my opinion, a lot, because by showing the body in a not idealized way, you can build the confidence of many women and help them self-acceptance, which is the key to being happy with yourself.