The Practice of Photography: Focus on PORTALS

Becoming a creative photographer is a practice.  It is about paying attention to your surroundings and seeing with fresh eyes.  We can be overwhelmed by the clutter of the world, and one way to start seeing more clearly is to focus on a specific theme or object for a period of time.  This practice has made all the difference to my photography.

To simplify the practice, and give you a place and an opportunity to share with other creative photographers I am sharing one of the focus themes from my deck of  The Creative Photographer Exploration Cards to Expand Your Creativity each month.  You can share your images on The Creative Photographer Facebook page.

The theme for February and March is PORTALS.  This is the first theme in the series of 24.

A camera could be considered a portal - as it is an entry into another reality.  As you learn to see the world more deeply through your camera, you will notice that everything is speaking to you. For a photograph to be meaningful, you must focus beyond the superficial to the feeling in the image.

Portals include doorways, windows, entrances and exits. They are thresholds to inner and outer realities, and can symbolize openings and closings, beginnings and endings. Consider this as you look for images of portals in the world around you.

Doors or windows can make interesting collections, especially as a way to absorb the feel of a place you are visiting. The doors you see in France are very different from the doors you see in Africa, and the stories of the people entering the doors are all unique.





Art is the window to man’s soul.  
Without it, he would never be able to see beyond his immediate world, 
nor could the world see the man within.
Claudia Johnson

Share your interpretation of portals on The Creative Photographer facebook page.