Lost Your Photography Mojo? Maybe You Don’t Need to Fix It

When you lose your photography drive and get stuck in a creative rut, there are two routes – one is to stay disciplined even though you’re unmotivated. In times like this, you may seek inspiration in other people’s photos or in movies, books, exhibitions, or try different techniques to rekindle your creativity.

The other option is to just accept it and let go. Sounds scary? Well, this is what I want to talk about today. I promise, it’s not as scary as it sounds. In this article, I want to help you get rid of the guilt and the nagging feeling that you’re not good enough.

Let me start with a confession. There have been stretches of time where my camera just sat there, gathering dust, silently judging me from inside its bag. And let me tell you – that bothered me. In fact, it bothered me so much that I even talked about it in therapy. I felt guilty, like I was betraying something I loved, and betraying myself.

But here’s what I’ve come to understand: the creative rut is a part of the process, especially if you’ve been into something for years. In my case, it will soon be counted in decades.

Why Does This Happen?

I want to briefly talk about the main reason people get stuck in a creative rut. Put simply – life happens. Our life circumstances change, and we change along with them. I’m not the same person I was in college, when I walked around with my camera every single day and spent the rest of my time either on Flickr or studying for exams. Not to mention that my life doesn’t look the same anymore now that I’m employed, grown-up, living with a partner and a cat, and living in another city.

However, what I think is super-important to note is that you don’t have to have a good reason to stop feeling inspired. Actually, not just a good reason – any reason. Many of us tend to rationalize everything, analyze it in minute detail, and try to justify our feelings. But, you know – you’re allowed to just feel something without having to explain it to anyone else, even yourself. If you feel uninspired, that’s fine. It’s normal. You’re not broken, and you definitely are still good enough.

Why You Should Stop Forcing Creativity?

I’m not saying this is the only route, but it’s the route I’ve been taking lately. Forcing creativity and actively seeking inspiration definitely works for some people, but I’ve noticed a countereffect in my own creative processes. That’s why I’ve wanted to share my insights: in case you’re like me and you feel that forcing it just doesn’t cut it.

Forcing It Can Make Things Worse

When I pick up my camera without any real desire to shoot, I feel a bit like I’m working against myself. And the results show it. I end up with boring images that don’t excite me, compositions I’ve done a hundred times before, photos that technically work but feel… Meh. And when I look at those photos afterwards, I feel bummed and frustrated, and that frustration builds up.

I compare these photos to my previous work and wonder how it is possible that I was a better and more creative photographer 10 years ago than I am now, when I have so much more knowledge. I get disappointed in myself and actually feel less and less motivated to shoot. If you do this too, know you’re not alone. And if you overdo it, it may lead to burnout – and burnout in a hobby is a particular kind of sad.

Your hobby is supposed to be the thing you do for joy, for yourself, outside of obligations and deadlines. When it starts feeling like another item on your to-do list, it just doesn’t feel that fulfilling anymore (that’s why I didn’t particularly enjoy the popular “365 project”).

So before you push yourself into another uninspired shooting session, ask yourself honestly: Is this helping me, or am I just adding pressure to something that needs space? And if the latter is your response, keep reading.

Your Skills Aren’t Going Anywhere

This is the one I want you to really hear, especially if you’re pressured by guilt for experiencing a creative block.

Everything you’ve learned so far will stay with you. How to read light, how to compose an image, what settings to use, how to find something worth capturing… You name it. I know this may sound like, “Well, duh, captain Obvious,” but it was such a soothing and liberating thought for me once I finally realized it, so I was hoping you might find it useful, too. Everything you know is stored in you, and it’s not going anywhere, no matter how long you take a break.

Photography isn’t like a language that gets rusty if you don’t practice it daily. Take my word for it, I learned four foreign languages and only stayed good at English because I use it daily at work. But with a creative hobby, the knowledge you’ve learned is yours to keep.

And here’s something worth considering: you’ll return with fresh eyes, and you don’t have to pick up exactly where you left off. Maybe you come back interested in a completely different style, or a new subject, or a different way of processing your images. The foundation you’ve built holds up, and now you can use it to grow in your field and learn new things along the way. Isn’t that amazing?

Your Creativity Is Within You

I have several hobbies in addition to photography; I’ve written about them many times. I believe there are other activities you enjoy, too. This is why I want to stress another thing I realized: your creativity doesn’t live in your camera or in your photography alone. It lives in you, whatever you do, and no matter how long you stay stuck in a photographic creative rut.

When you step away from photography and let yourself explore something else, you’re not abandoning creativity. You’re still feeding it, only from a different direction. For example, I haven’t been really creative in my photography for a long time now. But I’ve been having so much fun and finding so many creative challenges in crocheting and embroidery for the past few years.

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A post shared by Dunja Đuđić (@propeler_vez)

And believe it or not, these detours have a way of circling back. I’ve noticed I tend to return to something else I’ve enjoyed before. I started making jewelry again when I was 30-something: a hobby I had way back in college. I also keep circling back to photography after ages of not doing it outside concerts. Speaking of that, I always capture those concerts perfectly fine, regardless of how long I hadn’t been shooting anything else. I think it proves my point that the skills aren’t going anywhere.

I’ve also noticed that creativity cross-pollinates. The skills and sensibilities you develop in one area don’t stay neatly contained. Instead, they bleed into everything else you do. So, while you exercise your creative muscle on crocheting, embroidery, painting, playing an instrument, or whatever else you enjoy, this creativity will be there for your photography once you decide to pick up your camera again.

A Word About Guilt in the Creative Rut

If you’re a hobbyist (and this article is written for you, specifically), I want to gently remind you of something. You don’t owe anyone your photography. Not your followers, not the photography community, not even yourself if you don’t feel like it.

You picked up a camera because it brought you something. Joy, expression, a way of seeing, a reason to go outside, a creative outlet, whatever. The moment it stops bringing you that thing, it’s okay to put it down. Hobbies are allowed to ebb and flow, you’re allowed to take long breaks with or without a reason.

Inspiration and desire to shoot will come back, it almost always does. You don’t have to force it if you don’t feel like it, you just have to feel it and embrace it once it’s there again. And when you do, your camera will be right there waiting, along with your skills and your creativity.

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