Darkrooms Uncovered - Mike Voss
A peek into a photographer's mental creative darkroom
What does your creative ritual look like? Do you have specific habits or conditions that spark your creativity?
I’m not aware of a ritual. I’m a throw it at the wall and see if it sticks kind of guy. Then I read Rick Rubin’s book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, and it made sense to me. I have no idea why I was standing in the right place at the right time, with the correct lens when the light changed for the better, but there I was. I believe creativity comes from somewhere and we need to be open to it because it can slip out the back door and be gone. So, I carry a camera all the time which becomes a habit. I think I see the world differently when I have a camera with me. I seldom shoot with my phone.
When you're feeling creatively blocked, what's your go-to method for breaking through?
After forty-eight years in the newspaper business where the motto was, GET THE PHOTO STUPID, I tend to simply soldier on. Most of my images are found images so I just keep looking for photos. The best days are the days when I find something I like, but I don’t obsess when I come away with nothing. Tomorrow is another day after all, and I’m doing this for the joy of doing it.
Describe a moment when your creative perspective shifted dramatically. What triggered it?
It was April 6, 2018 (How’s that for an answer?) when I was retired unexpectedly. I walked away from “work” with no idea what I was going to do going forward. I took some time away from photography, but it called me back, and it took probably a year, and a stretch of freelancing, to realize that I was free to shoot whatever I chose to shoot without justifying it to an editor or client. It was very liberating.
What recurring themes or elements do you find yourself naturally drawn to capture?
I like to photograph people. I’ve made portraits, but I prefer street photography because it’s more honest. There’s always so much going on and so many choices to make on the fly. I used to believe as a photojournalist I held up a mirror to society, but I’ve come to realize the image in the mirror is my own. As Minor White said,” All photographs are self-portraits.”. Ultimately my photographs tell me about me
What non-photographic influences (books, music, films, etc.) most impact your work?
This a great question and I’ve had to think hard how to answer. I have always liked to read, and I enjoy history, and biographies. I hope I have learned something from reading history. I’m told I have eclectic tastes in music as well, and I’m partial to singer/songwriters (think Bob Dylan, John Prine, Paul Simon, Randy Newman etc.) because it seems to me they’re out there alone creating like photographers. As opposed to band members who are always collaborating and sharing ideas.
What photograph of yours feels most personally revealing, and why?
Another great question. I hope I have yet to take my best photographs, but this one in the snow is a favorite right now. In the interest of full transparency, the child is my grandson waiting for his school bus in front of his home. It had snowed during the night and when we went out to meet the bus which the snow delayed, he kept running back and forth. His joy was infectious, and as I watched him, I remembered feeling that way long ago. I considered lying down and making a snow angel but chose instead to grab a couple frames of him portraying my inner child.
Find out more about Mike Voss
Website: mikevossphoto.zenfoliosite.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikevphoto53
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