Staying creative during the summer months is hard work. Often times I try my best to avoid excuses and certainly I wish I was better at overcoming distractions and weariness. Being creative is essential to me, and is taking me years to understand what works for me does not depend on consumption, but being creative is also the result of giving myself enough room to let ideas grow and roam free. This past August has left me with some setbacks. I started the month wanting to work with ambient light and film processing, so I arranged still-lives to shoot with 120 black and white film, but unfortunately, despite making a new batch of chemicals, none of the five rolls I developed were successful. Also, the high humidity levels made it very difficult to grab my camera and step out to venture on the streets or even get in front of my easel. Therefore, having a rough month has got me thinking about new ways to push my creativity. With that in mind, I began to reconsider my approach to social media, especially, Instagram. I always enjoyed how Instagram pushed me to get work done, but now, I see how daily posting has made me tired, and even bored. To me, Instagram has become predictable and more distracting rather than inspiring. So, I’m making an effort to slow down for a while.

As the summer of 2018 comes to an end, I look forward to the autumn and winter months with excitement. I certainly plan to become more serious about the quality of my work, and not just the quantity of images I produce or share on social media. What steps have you taken to avoid distractions, has social media been harmful to your creative process in any way?