Column: Film to Filters: Being a creative in the 21st Century

As a creator in the 21st century, in an age of constant feedback and social media, there have been significant changes in the creation of art. Social media provides constant feedback from anyone you want.

If we look back at photography in the 1990s, there have been drastic changes. There was no constant feedback until an artist’s project was completed, aside from a few exceptions such as print publications. 

Sticking to your vision: 

���As a photographer in the 90s, you weren’t dealing with social media. You weren’t getting immediate feedback to what you were doing until basically your project was done,” photographer and filmmaker Lyle Owerko said.

Owerko emphasized distinguishing opinions from guidance. Noting anyone could offer their opinion on your work, however they may not have the best intentions for you or be in the position to offer constructive criticism. Learning to differentiate opinions and guidance may result in a better end product. Arguing that young people should be concerned about developing their own perspectives before seeking opinions. 

Owerko goes further, focusing on an artist’s overall vision. He argues that artists must stick to their vision, perspective, and thesis of the world. After these steps are completed, he then encourages artists to show it to their world. This was illustrated when Owerko compared creating art to writing a book. 

“If you were an author, and you posted a page of text from your book, every few days, you would never get your book done. You’d be slowed down by opinions,” Owerko said.

Finding meaning

Meaning. This may offer where to find your vision. Owerko found that he found the most success when he was taking photos that were the most meaningful to him while staying in practice and taking photos. Recognizing the different photos can hold different meanings for different people, allowing him to find a bigger story outside the frame of the photo.   

Being a contributor 

Owerko ended by stressing internalizing your ideas, not relying on someone’s opinions or validation. Continuing by encouraging creatives to find value where other people did not see it and defining what is typically overlooked. 

Furthermore, he aims to create images of substance and find perspectives, which is difficult to differentiate in our evolving world of social media. He inspires creatives to not seek views and likes, living in an atmosphere of contemplation rather than consumption. 

“Going super fast, it doesn’t mean you are going somewhere of meaning,” Owerko said.