Aspirational Photographs — Donna Hopkins

There are photographs we admire and respect, but not love. There are pictures we love because of the subject or the light or maybe there’s no good reason. At least not one we can identify. Most often it’s about how an image makes us feel that determines its worth. This of course is subjective and individual. The beauty of art.

When I come across a picture I love, I bookmark the artist’s website and save it in a folder I call, Favorite Photographers. This folder is a fountain of inspiration—a place I return to time and time again. Sometimes I study an image that speaks to me. Like this one by India Hobson. I try to discern what it is about the image that aligns with my own style. Or what it is about the image that makes me want to branch out and try something different. I think of this as slow seeing. This strategy opens my view and gives me something to strive toward.

This picture isn’t nearly as good as the inspiration photo from India Hobson. But it’s on the way toward that kind of photograph where landscape and space are the main subjects.