When Was the Last Time You Spent A Day at the Library?

You no longer feel inspired to pick up your camera and spend a day shooting inspired pictures. When was the last time you spent a day in the photography stacks at your public library? Most of the books on photography found there are pretty dated, at least they are at the brick and mortar public libraries that I visit, but the photo anthologies are excellent sources of inspirations. Great photographs are ageless, and I never come away from a day flipping through those tombs without a plethora of ideas for my own photography.

The Archives: Life Magazine

Some of the best sources of inspiration for a photographer are not found in the photography stacks at all but in the archives. If you are a photojournalist at heart, your greatest inspirations will come from "Paging" through old issues of Life Magazines. Henry Luce published the first issue of Life Magazine on November 23, 1936. Life became known for its photo essays, its photojournalism. Life Magazine published weekly until 1972. Between 1972 and 1978 it published intermittently as a "Special" and then as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Once found on the living room coffee tables in every American Home, it has now disappeared from the landscape. I guarantee you that if you spend an afternoon viewing Life Magazine on microfiche, you will come away with enough ideas for your real life photojournalism to last you several years.

The current magazine section

If you like photographing pretty women and want to be inspired, check out the entertainment magazines and Women's magazine. OK, so you are a guy, so what, there is no need to be ashamed of looking at women's magazines-it is research. It is not a reflection on your masculinity. I am 67 years old and draw some exceptionally funny looks sitting there engrossed in an issue of Glamour, but I simply smile at the lookers. My pictures sell because of my research.

I spend an equal amount of time pouring through outdoor magazines because I am an avid nature photographer. Photographing nature in its entire splendor makes for salable stock photos along with my photos of nature's fauna and flora.

Magazines catering to animal lovers are also another source of inspiration for me because I love to photograph animals as much, maybe more even, then I love to photograph people.

The Work of Other Photographer Inspire Us

When we view photos made by great photographers like Mathew Brady and his primitive equipment, we are inspired to strive for greater achievements with our superior equipment. When we study the world-renowned pictures of Ansel Adams, we are inspired to imitate his achievements. Photographers, like writers, learn from, and are inspired by those who have gone before him.