Creativity: Don’t Stop the Flow!

Or, how my husband replaced me with an iconic action figure

For years, my husband Josh has been a passionate, and very gifted photographer. So it’s not unusual to find him exploring new territory, using state-of-the-art equipment, trying new techniques, and shooting spontaneously around the house. He’ll often say, “Can I take your picture today?” And, depending on just how fat or old I feel at the moment, I might oblige. (Truth is, he is the go-to guy for all my headshots, because he is, in fact, a master. See a recent shot at the beach in Pic #4 below.)

Well, I suppose it should not have been a surprise — when I returned from the gym this weekend — to find Josh alone in the living room, shooting away, with a brand new lighting system, a jerry-rigged backdrop made from purple bedroom sheets, and, well, what appeared to be a very elaborate, professional portrait set-up.

His subject? A bobblehead doll of superstar action hero Jackie Chan.

The plastic model was poised on a stool, in the center of a living room, facing the photographer, in a classic martial arts stance. This, amidst an audience of a couple of very confused cats. (Pics #1 and #2)

I stood there, in what can only be described as a parallel acyclovir universe, and decided to ask. “What the heck are you doing?” I said gently. Josh’s answer sent me falling solidly in love with him one more time.

He said he had gotten a brainstorm about a lighting technique, which he wanted to try out on me, or his 19-year-old son, Jake. But because I was out of the house, and Jake was at school,  he needed someone else to “sit” for his session. He stressed that the experiment couldn’t wait. So he headed toward Jake’s bedroom Bobblehead doll collection, and asked Jackie to oblige. (Pic #3)

Feeling slightly awkward, but creatively stoked nonetheless, Josh began to shoot. He said he was “in the zone” and could not have been happier about the possibilities. That day he got to play with light and shadow, responded to his creative instincts, and said that despite being such a huge international star, Jackie Chan “was surprisingly easy to work with.”

As a reporter, blogger, and creativity consultant, I talk about this critical need to create – every day. But the true challenge comes in knowing how to really shove aside the obstacles that stop us from answering the call — the call of inspiration. (Even if it means encountering the somewhat pathetic sight of a grown man and a six-inch action figure sharing an intimate moment.)