Blost #56

Mojo

As we exit Winter and enter the Spring and Summer months it would be true to say that over the past few months I have taken very few photos. When this happens and you discuss it with other photographers they often say, “don’t worry your mojo will return soon”. I have never really understood what that means in the literal sense so decided to look it up. Surprisingly the term relates to the influence a magic charm or spell can have over something or someone. That didn’t sound right and was verging on Harry Potter territory. I then read that the common slang interpretation relates to self-efficacy, self-esteem, energy and self-confidence. That sounded more like what people are talking about when they say mojo.

I looked at these definitions and concluded that for me, lack of energy seems to be my enemy. I have no problem once I get going but taking that first step and committing to getting out there I find difficult sometimes. If I was a professional photographer then I would have no choice but to do it every day but as an amateur its a lot easier to let things slip if the drive is low. There could however be other reasons why mojo leaves us from time to time. It could be medical reasons either physical or mental. It could also be down to disillusionment that you are not making fast enough progress and feel in a rut. It could also be that having invested in very expensive photography gear we feel compelled to use it every day, and when we don’t it starts transmitting negativity.

One other consideration could be that we are setting the bar too high and having tried every genre of photography we feel a failure when success doesn’t rear it’s head. Another symptom could be in constantly comparing our work to that of others and getting downhearted. Forgetting that you have an individual identity an approach to your work is a danger and can lead to you feeling that you will never emulate the people you see having success.

Another thing I see is photographers deviating from their passion to take shots that their heart is not into taking in order to satisfy a competition brief or to chase “likes” on Instagram and such places.

The list of things that can result in a loss of mojo is not exhaustive and could be very personal to you. People will say things like “try something new”, “start a new project”, “use a piece of kit you don’t normally use”. These are all valid pieces of advice and we can take them or leave them, but they may just demoralise us more. I’m not going to do any of these if my heart is not in it or if my basic problem is managing to get my ar$e into gear and get out there.

The best advice I have found is not to beat yourself up about it and to realise that loss of mojo is very common and entirely normal. When you are ready you will regain your drive and enthusiasm, but in the meantime you can keep your hand in by doing other things that may help to stimulate your enthusiasm again. We could read (not collect) all those photography books and magazines we have acquired. We could seek out and attend photography exhibitions. We could engage with (serious) on-line groups and enjoy that environment. Searching your picture library for missed gems (and improving your file system whilst you do it), is another worthwhile activity during slack periods. We are fortunate these days that we have a myriad of on-line tutorials that we can access on photography, particularly on post processing so try some of them.

I am doing these things at the moment whilst I get back out with the camera and hitting the streets with enthusiasm. What I am trying to say is that we should recognise that loss of mojo is entirely normal and we should not have a knee-jerk reaction to it resulting in us selling all of our equipment and taking up golf or some other pastime.

I often feel the adrenalin pumping when I am hunting for street images and it is a great feeling. Normal service will be resumed shorty, for sure.