Just a Sunday Night Blog….
My daughter Karalyn was visiting for the Summer and just left. This leaves me in a somber mood. I need to change my mood so I started to think what inspires me. The first thing that came to mind was a college friend reminding me about the 80th birthday of a professor that was coming up. You may say huh… but this was no ordinary professor. This man Thomas Richards, appropriately known as TR changed my life. It is kind of corny to think of the one person who influenced you but without a doubt this is the man. I was a student at Syracuse University and it was 1978 and I was off to London for a Semester. In the class was Bob Sacha, Stephen Wilkes, Nancy Leigh and few others. We all became friends and we were inspired by a truly amazing professor, Thomas Richards more affectionately known as TR. TR is retired but he still comes up in conversation on a very regular basis. Stephen, Bob and I went on to become college roommates and lifelong friends.
So where am I going with this. Well for one TR’s birthday is coming up. This man was not only an influence to me but also to a whole consortium of Syracuse University grads. Right off the top of my head comes Eric Meola, Clint Clemens, Joe McNally, Stephen Wilkes, Bob Sacha, Nancy Leigh and countless others. So again where am I going with this besides TR?
Whenever I’m in a dry spell of inspiration, also known as photographic block or temporary depression, a bottle of red wine will re-ignite the spark of inspiration in me. As helpful as this may be, it also puzzles me. What is it about red wine that makes me creative? What is it about photographers that picking 20 great images leads to depression?
Red wine, or more likely the alcohol that’s included in the package, has mysterious effects when it comes down to human behavior. It affects feelings, creativity, conscious thought, rationality and, when consumed in too large quantities, even motor skills. But of course with the appreciation of red wine comes a real love of red wine or in my case a fanaticism with red wine or anything else that truly inspires me.
Back to the original question
What inspires me o what is the effect of red wine that makes me creative again? I think it comes down to two things:
Red wine or rather good red wine
I, for one, never thought I would ever write about red wine or a college professor on a blog about photography, but it makes sense anyway.
Why do we need inhibitions in the first place? They only make sure we are ‘normal’ and ‘fit in’. You are an original, no matter what you do. If it is what everyone else is doing, that fine! And if it’s ‘different’, that’s fine too!
