I read somewhere that the periods in which inspiration and productivity run dry in the life of every creative person is as all part of the cycle of creativity. They are a necessary, though often frustrating and painful, part of how artists produce work and should be used as a “rest period’ in which to gather strength/thoughts/inspiration/whatever it is one needs to move forward into the next phase of work. It is much like the cycle of the seasons, with growth in some periods of the year eventually leading to dormancy and rest in others. It’s just not humanly possible to always be productive, and the creative muse likes her time off too.

It was with these thoughts in mind that I gave myself time off over the summer. It’s never my most productive time because there are so many distractions and I want to make the most of the gorgeous summer weather while it’s here. I decided I would ponder what I wanted to work on after the end of the 52 Weeks series of self portraits and begin something new in September.

The above shot is the first in the new series and is inspired by the self portraits I took for 52 Weeks. I wanted to take some of the themes, ideas, and techniques I came up with in that series and apply them to portraits of other people. I’ve decided to concentrate on women as my subjects because I think my style is better suited to the feminine. My goal is to shoot one portrait about every week or two, which means planning ahead and being organized.

I’m excited about working on this and can’t wait to bring more of my ideas to photographic life.