“The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purpose through him.”
-Carl Jung
Slanted light on boulder and snowgum. Pentax MX, Portra 800, July 2026.
I was recently guiding a trip in Lutruwita’s Central Highlands.
One of my guests was a fellow photographer and he shared an idea with me that he heard in an interview on radio national. This idea was the use of ‘constrictions and frictions’ by the artist as tools to create.
I asked him to explain.
Reeds on the frozen lake. Pentax MX, Portra 800, July 2026.
The idea is that without limitations, the artist’s work becomes too broad, and contaiIns too much freedom. Constrictions can be used to help the artist narrow their field of focus on a particular subject. Frictions can encourage the creative tension that is so often present in timeless works of art.
It was an idea that I found fascinating and one that stayed with me. It was also an idea I was able to put into practice later on in our trip.
Golden hour delight. Pentax MX, Portra 800, July 2026.
-A.S. Brushy Creek, 17/7/2026.