I will build a house for myself out of tin cans
And I'll sew a bright red coat for myself,
And live my life as an eccentric from old fairy tales
Who looks at the world with an open mouth.
Victor Luferov "I will build a house ..."
Why define creativity?
To make it clearer what to research and what others are researching and talking about.
As a researcher, I always remember the golden rule of the experimenter: before discovering something new that was not previously noticed by other observers, you must first form a new conceptual apparatus. The object of a particular study dictates a method adequate to its study.
Einstein's biographers recount one instructive conversation. When the young Wernher von Heisenberg shared with Einstein plans to create a physical theory that would be based entirely on observed facts and did not contain any conjectures, he shook his head doubtfully:
Whether you can observe this phenomenon depends on which theory you use. The theory determines what exactly can be observed.
In science, it is customary to respect terminology. When thinking about a problem, a scientist thinks in terms. Meanwhile, each term reflects an old, already existing idea. The term seeks to impose a traditional, habitual vision of the object. In fact, terms are protective mechanisms of scientific paradigms, an indicator of the psychological inertia of scientists.
What is creativity? To begin with, we analyzed 126 definitions of creativity. Aristotle believed that the world is eternal; in terms of time, it has neither beginning nor end. Creativity in nature is a process of constant formation and destruction, the purpose of which is the approximation of matter to the spirit, the victory of form over matter, which is finally realized in man.
CREATE what, give life, create, create, create, produce, give birth. One God creates. The good tree brings forth good fruit, Matt. Create with the mind, create scientifically or artistically. The law creates guilt. | Produce, make, perform, repair. Do not do mischief to the old man. Create judgment and truth. Doing evil, what do you think? What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to a friend. To create a memory for whom, to commemorate. Do charity. Whom I serve, I create the will. Wine at first amuses, but then it creates crazy ... Whatever happens to us - all because of our sins. Shut the door. They've made trouble! Open the window. He pretended to be poor. Trouble has gone - dissolve the gate! Let's do a good deed. The world was created, and we were not asked! Creation, action. by vb. | All created, created; creation, creature. And the goat is God's creation. Every creation knows the Creator. | Compositions, and in general everything created by the human mind. Immortal creations of famous writers. Bryullov's creations. And every creation of human hands is perishable. What a man, this pitiful, sickly creature! Creative Wed psk. what is dissolved, liquefied; sourdough. Created Wed. a vessel in which something dissolves, esp. a box, or a pit lined with boards, in which lime is bred on water with sand ... Creator, God, Creator, Creator. Creator of heaven and earth. | Maker, manufacturer, performer, inventor, writer, founder. Creator of the oratorio "The Creation of the World". The creator of the present, free life of the peasants. My father is the creator, my mother is the breadwinner. There are many imitators, but no creators. Creator, doer, doer. Creator of troubles, goodness, miracles. -telny case, grammatical. in the declension of names, meaning a tool, a means, to the question of who, what ... Creature f. creature sib. creation, divine creation, living being, from a worm to a man. Every creature glorifies the Lord, but man glorifies ... Creativity cf. creation, creation, creation, as an active property; creative, related to the creator and creativity. The creativity of the poet, painter and sculptor appears in images: in speeches, in essays and colors, in an idol. (Dal V. Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language).
CREATIVITY is an activity that generates something qualitatively new and is distinguished by originality, socio-historical uniqueness. Creativity is specific to a person, because always presupposes the creator - the subject of creative activity. FOLK CREATIVITY (folk art, folklore), artistic collective creative activity of the people, reflecting their life, views, ideals; poetry (traditions, songs, fairy tales, epics), music (songs, instrumental tunes and plays), theater (dramas, satirical plays, puppet theater), dance, visual and decorative arts created by folk creators and existing among the people. It originated in antiquity, is closely connected with the traditions of any type of artistic activity and is the historical basis of world artistic culture (Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary).
CREATIVITY is an absolutely original creation of the unprecedented by man, ... a revelation of human nature itself (N. A. Berdyaev).
CREATIVITY - an activity that generates something qualitatively new and is distinguished by originality, originality and socio-historical uniqueness. Creativity is specific to a person, because it always involves a creator - the subject of creative activity (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary (BES).
CREATIVITY is an activity, the essence and distinctive feature of which is the creation of a new, unparalleled in nature and in the cultural activity of a person, society (Culturology. Brief Dictionary).
CREATIVITY is a mental process of creating new values, which is "a continuation and replacement of children's play" (Psychoanalytic Glossary).
CREATIVITY is an activity, the result of which is the creation of new material and spiritual values (A Brief Psychological Dictionary. Under the general editorship of A. V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky).
CREATIVITY is a unique compilation, understandable for the creator and incomprehensible to others. (Karmanov A.)
Based on the research of Bogoyavlenskaya and Matyushkin, according to which CREATIVITY can be defined as a kind of going beyond (the current situation or existing knowledge) (V. N. Druzhinin).
In a figurative sense, creation, CREATIVITY is any introduction of something new, in particular, the creation of images as a result of the emerging activity of the spirit, creative fantasy. (Short Philosophical Encyclopedia).
What words close to the concept of creativity exist in Russian? Let's open the dictionary of the Russian language Ozhegova S. I .: “CREATION, -I, cf. (high). The work, the result of creativity. Great works of Pushkin.
CREATOR, -rtsa, m. (high). 1. The person who creates, created something. creatively. The Soviet people - the so-called new world. 2. God as a mythical being who created the world.
CREATIVE: instrumental case - a case that answers the question of someone with what? CREATE, -ryu, -rish; nesov. that. 1. Create creatively (high). The artist creates beauty. 2. To do, to perform (some kind of actions), to carry out. T. good. T. court and reprisal. He does not know what he is doing (book). What are you doing! (doing it). II owl. create, -ryu, -rish; -renny (-yon, -ena). CREATE 2, -ryu, -rish; -renny (-yon, -ena); nesov. that. Prepare (some kind of composition), dissolving, liquefying. T. dough. T. lime. II soy. shut, -ryu, -rish; -renny (-yon, -ena). 1G app. creative, th, th (special).
TO BE CREATED (-rue, -rish, 1 and 2 l. not used), -rish; nesov. (colloquial). To be done, to happen (usually about something strange or reprehensible). What's going on here? There is something wrong with him. 1| owls. to create (-rus, -rises, 1 and 2 liters. inexhaustible.), -ritsya. A miracle happened.
CREATIVE, - oh, oh. 1. see creativity. 2. Creative, independently creating something. new, original. T. labor. Creative (adv.) to think. creative forces of the people.
CREATIVITY, -a, cf. Creation of new cultural or material values. Artistic vol. Folk vol. T. Pushkin. T. innovators. II adj. creative, th, th. T. gift. T. way of the writer.
Talent is a set of abilities (giftedness) that allows you to get a product of activity that is distinguished by novelty, high perfection and social significance (Psychological Dictionary. Edited by V. V. Davydov, A. V. Zaporozhets, B. F. Lomov, etc.) .
Recently appeared one more word - "creativity", close to the concept of inclination or ability to be creative.
The concept of creativity (from Latin creatio - creation), introduced by Torrens, means the ability to be creative in the broad sense of the word - the ability to produce new ideas and find unconventional ways to solve problems. Creativity, unequivocally never defined by Torrens, continues to be perceived as a synonym for creative activity in any sphere of human activity (Adaskina A.A.)
A creative person is a creative person who is prone to non-standard ways of solving problems, capable of original and non-standard actions, discovering something new, creating unique products (V. N. Druzhinin).
“The field of creativity is difficult to research and causes a lot of controversy, since the empirical field of facts related to this problem is very wide. Creativity, considered in various concepts, appears as pieces of a puzzle, which no one has yet been able to put together in its entirety. Back in the 60s. more than 60 definitions of creativity have been described and, as the author noted, "their number is growing every day" ... Apparently, the number of definitions of creativity that has accumulated to date is already difficult to estimate. As the researchers note, "the process of understanding what creativity is itself requires creative action. Starting with the definition of creativity, we thereby doom ourselves to failure, since creativity has not yet been conceptualized and empirically determined." The authors of one of the latest studies define creativity as "the achievement of something significant and new... In other words, this is what people do to change the world" (Torshina K.A.).
The appearance of an incredibly large number of definitions and their inconsistency indicates a terminological crisis and terminological search in this area.
Academician Vladimir Vasilievich Sharonov singled out the following types of creative activity, which can be represented by three main groups.
A) Activities for the promotion of fundamentally new solutions.
B) Activities for detailing, concretizing, elaborating this new one in order to determine the fundamental possibility of its practical implementation.
C) Activities to bring new ideas to life, their objectification in various material forms.
Such a classification of creative activity was born within the framework of modern science of science and refers primarily to the types of scientific creativity (fundamental, applied and technical knowledge). But she, in his opinion, can be attributed to creativity as such.
The definitions of creativity available in the literature make it possible to single out some of its general foundations. First of all, the qualitative, fundamental novelty of the final product of the creative act. Secondly, the direct absence of this quality in the initial premises of creativity. Thirdly, creativity is activity.
Creativity can be classified according to the following criteria:
subjective, or internal, before leaving the spirit, and objective, or external, after leaving the spirit (V. V. Rozanov “On Understanding”);
subjectively individual (personal creativity, personal initiative) and subjectively collective (folk art);
Born as a result of "trial and error" or due to cognitive cognition, the results of which do not directly contain the initial premises;
gray and permitted. Creativity is controlled and uncontrolled.
The key characteristic of creativity is the fundamental novelty of the product, that is, creative thinking is characterized by the search for fundamentally new solutions, going beyond the existing system, which does not correspond to the definitions of either convergent or divergent thinking. Recall that J. Gilford divided thinking into divergent and convergent. Divergent thinking is associated with the generation of many solutions based on unambiguous data. Convergent thinking is aimed at finding the only correct result and is diagnosed by traditional intelligence tests.
There are two fundamental postulates in the theory of creativity, supported by an overwhelming number of researchers. First: from the point of view of academician A. D. Alexandrov, creativity is a specific species feature of a person, which most significantly distinguishes it from the animal world. It is the ability to create, that is, to create some fundamentally new quality, that distinguishes a person from nature, opposes him to nature and acts as a source of labor, consciousness, and culture. Second: creativity is one of the most active states and manifestations of human freedom. In terms of content, it closely related to the game, Academician VV Sharonov believes.
Judging by the average definition of creativity that exists, Keller's chimpanzees, inserting one stick into another and using it to get fruit, were also creative, relative to their species. The statement about the possibility of creativity only in humans, upon detailed examination, dissolves into dust, since many similarities between everyday philosophical and psychological creativity are also found in animals.
Creativity is not only a phenomenon of human activity, but also, for example, the behavior of animals (Big psychological dictionary. General ed. B. Meshcheryakova, V. Zinchenko).
One of the characteristic features of the game is frivolity (Seravin, 2002); who can argue that creativity is impossible with a serious attitude towards it.
One of the main points of contention is that creativity is immanent in any kind of human activity. Academician A. D. Alexandrov strongly objects to the not so rare in philosophical and psychological literature, the fundamental division of the types of human activity into creative (creative) and non-creative (reproductive).
In this regard, it is worth recalling Stanislavsky's paradox, the essence of which is how to assess the degree of creative, new, fundamentally new contribution of an actor to a role. Where is the line between convergent and divergent in an actor's work? In the subjective assessment of three equal types of experts:
The self-satisfaction of the actor, his cathartic self-realization,
In the professional assessment of his colleagues and critics,
In recognition from the viewer, the public, journalists.
Which of these assessments is more significant for the actor himself, his creative and audience success? Where is their measure? What is the criterion for these assessments and its contribution to history? Where is the difference between a new, personal contribution and experience, history? Stanislavsky's paradox - a product of the subjectivity of the assessment of human activity - manifests itself in any of our activities.
It is believed that a new quality - a product of creativity - arises only when two (or more) relatively autonomous systems of knowledge are combined into one new system. It is their interaction within this new system that leads to the emergence of a new quality. It is no coincidence that, in particular, it is the border areas of knowledge that are considered the most creatively potential, and in practical life, as a rule, transitional periods are such (V. V. Sharonov).
One of the main problems of creativity is that even in the explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, where there is a definition of creativity, there is not a single case of using the term "creativity" for its intended purpose.
ADI (Ady) Endre (1877 - 1919), Hungarian poet. His work, close to impressionism and symbolism ...
The work of Camus, which was also fed by social criticism, became an expression of the tragic consciousness of the 20th century.
The work of outstanding figures of fiction marks the most important phases in the development of world and national culture. Literature is studied by philology, primarily literary criticism.
SULTAN VELED (Sultan Velet) Muhammad Behaeddin (1226 - 1312), Turkish Sufi poet (see Sufism). Son of J. Rumi. He wrote in Farsi. All creativity is devoted to the life, work and teachings of his father.
ABSTRACT ART (abstractionism, non-objective art, non-figurative art), a set of trends in the iso-culture of the 20th century, replacing naturalistic, easily recognizable objectivity with a more or less free play of lines, colors and forms (the plot and subject are only guessed, symbolically implied or disappear altogether ). Since ancient times, non-objective creativity has existed in the form of an ornament or non-finito, but only in recent history has it taken shape in a special aesthetic program. Among the founders of abstract art are V. V. Kandinsky, K. S. Malevich, P. Mondrian, masters of Orphism. There were several variants of it: geometric abstraction, abstract expressionism, informel, tachisme, post-painting abstraction.
ALYABEV Alexander Alexandrovich (1787-1851) - Russian composer. Vocal creativity in the traditions of Russian urban folklore early. 19th century
ARTIST (French artiste from Latin ars - art), the same as an actor. In a broad sense, a person engaged in creativity in the field of any art. In a figurative sense - a person who has achieved mastery in his field.
... The master's work is most fully represented in the Feodosia Art Gallery founded by him, which now bears his name (Feodosia Art Gallery named after I.K. Aivazovsky).
In 90% of cases, the word "creativity" is interpreted in the dictionary as a description of the life of a person whose work society has recognized as socially desirable. For example: “... The master’s work is most fully represented in the Feodosia Art Gallery founded by him, which now bears his name (I.K. Aivazovsky Feodosia Art Gallery).” In 99 cases out of 100, the word "creativity" is used as a designation for the transformation of society's attitude towards product creativity. Now there are 4 types of definitions of creativity: everyday creativity as going beyond the existing system in the broadest sense, creativity as the creation of new material and spiritual values, creativity as an activity and creativity as a product of activity. Ambiguity of definition is the essence of the nature of creativity. As we can see, most definitions characterize creativity as an activity, and when using the term “creativity”, a product is meant. That is, creativity is understood as a product that requires recognition and which can be found in the "art gallery". In the "art gallery" we get acquainted not with creativity, but with creations.
Consider the "everyday" term "creativity". About eight years ago I worked as a security guard-administrator in a hairdressing salon. The boss asked me to call a plumber in the evening, who was supposed to fix the Finnish head washer overnight, and left money. I felt sorry for parting with this money, and since I still had to sit with him all night, I decided that nothing was impossible for a person with a higher education, and decided to fix the sink myself. I dismantled it and studied the structure, then assembled it, and the sink started working. But there were three details that I didn't include. I took apart and reassembled the sink all night, not understanding the purpose of these parts. In the morning, I still assembled it, without two parts, and it worked without breakdowns for two years. According to some authors, this would be creativity, but I do not see creativity here because I studied the washing system and then, using this knowledge, repaired it. In my opinion, knowledge and skill to use this knowledge of the existing system is fundamentally different from the discovery of new intergalactic systems. An incredulous colleague may ask: “Does it not seem to you that the discovery of new intergalactic systems is the same version of repairing a sink? After all, their discovery follows certain laws developed by people, and at the same time there is no element of novelty. There is no way out of the system!”. The fact of the matter is that before discovering a new law, a creative discovery is necessary. "Sitting on the ground" man does not perceive the diversity of intergalactic systems; before he discovers them, it is necessary to admit and substantiate the theoretical possibility of their existence, and then prove it to the community. Unfortunately, it is impossible to say whether creativity is progressive from discovery to discovery, or is each subsequent creative discovery a different one? It probably happens this way and that. This problem is very difficult for researchers, in many ways it is similar to the question "how does evolution happen" - progressively or with the help of catastrophes. Creativity is an individual activity, and the product of activity is a collective one, since only in comparison with the achievements of our predecessors can we determine the fundamental novelty of the resulting product. In fact, “a sink without two or three parts” can also be considered a new product, but there is no fundamental novelty in comparison with the universal experience in this sink. On this occasion, I recall my discussion with a professor of mathematics in Tolyatti. The professor believed that at his faculty students are taught creativity, forcing them to solve known problems (convergent thinking) in new ways and ways (divergent thinking), and I said that they teach their students not creativity, but a completely different activity - the ability to apply the knowledge of existing mathematical system. Probably, the ability to solve a problem in a standard way is ordinary awareness (convergent thinking), a good knowledge of this subject, the ability to solve a problem in several ways is resourcefulness (divergent thinking), and creativity is still something more than awareness and resourcefulness. Creativity is going beyond the existing system, that is, a mathematics student would have to come up with a certain system, study it and, using their knowledge, solve a problem from a new system using new rules, and then still be able to prove to society that it was all and eat. That is, thinking can be divided into divergent, convergent and creative.
There are no problems with the definition of convergent thinking. For example, M.A. Kholodnaya defines "convergent intellectual abilities - in the form of level, combinatorial and procedural properties of the intellect - that characterize one of the aspects of intellectual activity aimed at finding a single (normal) result in accordance with the given conditions of activity." The definition of divergent thinking is vague: researchers are trying to define it either as everything else that was not included in the definition of convergent thinking, or they are trying to attract everything that is possible into this definition - this activity is a theoretical and research crisis of this concept. “Divergent abilities (or creativity) is the ability to generate a wide variety of original ideas in unregulated conditions of activity. Creativity in the narrow sense of the word is divergent thinking (more precisely, operations of divergent productive productivity, according to J. Gilford), a distinctive feature of which is the willingness to put forward many equally correct ideas regarding the same object. Creativity in the broad sense of the word is creative, intellectual abilities, including the ability to bring something new into experience (F. Barron), the ability to generate original ideas in the conditions of solving or posing new problems (M. Ullah), the ability to recognize problems and contradictions, and also formulate hypotheses regarding the missing elements of the situation (E. Torrens), the ability to abandon stereotypical ways of thinking (J. Gilford) ”(M.A. Kholodnaya 2002).
The main feature of creativity is going beyond the system. Not necessarily a merger or intersection of systems, the point is to find or create a new one. If you do not take into account the systems approach to understanding creativity, then my knowledge of the system, like plumbing, is no different from Einstein's creativity. But it's not like that! Einstein's creativity is a fundamentally different order. It is necessary to distinguish between the everyday understanding of the term and the psychological one, or introduce a new term that would distinguish between true creativity and good knowledge of the system. By real creativity, the author always understands going beyond.
However, true creativity, which goes beyond the framework of the system, requires its description within the framework of that system. That is, as soon as we define creativity, driving it into a certain system, we immediately lose it. The words of the classic come to mind: "An artist can only be judged according to the laws he himself created."
All the work on the definition of creativity reminds me of the second series of the film "The meeting place cannot be changed", when Zheglov and Sharapov were catching the pickpocket Kirpich. He answered the investigator Zheglov that creativity responds every day to a researcher who tries to define it in a convergent-oriented way.
So you have no (criminal) methods against Kostya Saprykin.
Researchers of creativity determine it exactly by the same methods, thanks to which the investigator of the criminal investigation department Zheglov caught the pickpocket Kirpich.
If we cannot define something, this does not mean at all that we cannot investigate it. Frankly speaking, the crisis of the development of science in the cognition of creativity is a crisis of the scientific paradigm, which shows its failure. There are no paradigms in creativity.
If we cannot define something, this does not mean at all that we cannot investigate it. Frankly speaking, the crisis in the development of science and in the cognition of creativity is a crisis of the scientific paradigm, which shows its failure. There are no paradigms in creativity. A.N. Luk wrote that thinking constantly operates in vague, indistinctly defined, insufficiently defined concepts. As we move along the path of knowledge, the concept is defined more and more completely, but can never be exhausted. We define creativity as an activity associated with finding fundamentally new solutions "based on ambiguous data." That is, we still give a definition, albeit a technical and vague one.
M. Bowen emphasizes that a psychologist in his practice encounters a wide range of phenomena that often do not fit into the framework of scientific logic, deals with mental reality, the main essence of which is expressed in unpredictability. All this can violate the integrity of the psychologist's understanding of reality and, consequently, reduce the quality of professional actions in relation to the client. Not surprisingly, many psychologists are beginning to realize the inadequacy of professional language and way of thinking to describe psychic reality.
We conducted a comparative analysis of the types of thinking according to the principle of finding a solution (table No. 1) and came to the conclusion that, in addition to the two types of thinking identified by Gilford, it is advisable to single out creative thinking, which is associated with finding fundamentally new solutions “based on ambiguous data”, then is independent of the nature of the data (data may be absent altogether). The tests of Guilford, Torrance and others explore divergent and convergent thinking without touching on creative thinking, since they are based on the search for predictable solutions within the given conditions of the existing system.
Now that we have tactically defined creativity and prepared a new conceptual apparatus for a new vision of this activity, it is time to move on to analyzing the methods and approaches to researching creativity used in the last century and developing adequate research methods for a new vision.
Table #1
|
Thinking |
Feature |
Diagnostics |
predictive significance of results |
Keyword (Characteristics successful process) |
|
Convergent |
thinking is aimed at finding the only true result |
diagnosed by traditional intelligence tests |
awareness |
|
|
divergent |
associated with the generation of a set of solutions based on unique data |
diagnosed by specialized tests |
weakly predict the real creative achievements of a person in his everyday and professional activities |
resourcefulness, originality |
Creative |
is associated with finding fundamentally new solutions "based on ambiguous data" |
diagnosed by specialized research |
predict the real creative achievements of a person in his everyday and professional activities |
genius, talent |
Meditation |
not actively finding any solutions or staying out of the search for solutions |
diagnosed by specialized observation |
it is impossible to predict the intellectual achievements of a person in real life |
dictates tastes Alternative descriptionsFragile, fleeting popularity A set of habits and tastes that prevail at a certain time This Russian word comes from the Latin, meaning "measure", "method", "rule" demeanor, custom . "Nurse" couturier . "Person", publishing the last peep Actual in clothes A breeze from Paris The supremacy of tastes Dominance of tastes dictator in clothes Breath from the catwalk Her "squeak" excites fashionistas Her "squeak" excites the dandy She is shown on the catwalk She is served by couturier Dior served her J. French walking custom; temporary, changeable whim in everyday life, in society, in the cut of clothes and in outfits; custom. In fashion, and a mouse in the chest of drawers. According to the old faith, but according to the new fashion, oh schismatic. Now it is in vogue, in custom, in custom. Such a fashion, usually. olon. name a fashionable girl's head scarf, tied in the city, with the ends forward. Modochka, Moscow-under. black silk headband. Fashion lady. Fashion cap, shop. She dresses fashionably, according to fashion. It is not more fashionable. Fashionable, not quite fashionable, not the latest custom. Fashionable, fashionable. property, belonging by value. adj. Modnik m. -nitsa w. who dresses in fashion and follows it; -kov, -nitsyn, belongs to him, to her. Novg fashionista. fashionista a cleaner, a seamstress and a dress trader. -kin, which belongs to her. To be fashionable, to follow fashion, to imitate secular custom. Hungry is not fashionable. Full of fashion, live as usual! Pathetic fashion, fashionism, passion to fashion. Model w. small sample; an object, especially a building one (church, ship, bridge), in a reduced size. Model, leather. a projectile with which to stroke the skin; iron plate with handles. Model related to the model. -naya Well. workshop where models are made. -schik m. who makes models. Modify, modify, change, change. -Xia, be changeable. Modification alteration in a different way; change Don't follow her New clothes every year Capricious squeak Screaming traitor Behavior The short reign of a certain taste in any area of life or culture The short dominance of a certain taste in any sphere of life or culture, in the narrow sense - a change in costume forms Samples of clothing items that meet modern tastes Clothes that train people Squeaky from Paris Squeak from Paris, which can not keep up Craze A plague, but not a disease Podium dictator Advancement in clothing Skirt length adjuster When she is born, she gives the last cry The set of habits and tastes that prevail in a certain environment at a certain time The path of the couturier Element Yudashkin queen of glamor What is more capricious than the weather What does a couturier create? This is when everyone likes what everyone knows that everyone likes it. In the novel "Eugene Onegin" Pushkin called her "our tyrant" and the disease of "the newest Russians" In statistics - the value of a feature (variant), most often found in a set of units or in a variation series (BEMe) In all ages, women are chasing her, and she is changing. Person, squeaks every year in a new way Periodic re-examination for herding - the desire and ability not to differ, Alexander Kruglov head psychosis momentary popularity Type of oscillation (normal oscillation) in distributed oscillatory systems or type of waves (normal waves) in waveguide systems and wave beams Tyrant of women and veils Fragile, fleeting popularity Not what they walk in, but what they chase Temporary, changeable whim in everyday life, in society She is capricious and changeable, but everyone listens to her squeak One of the natural oscillations of the body Dictator of tastes catwalk hostess Rules on the catwalks A breeze from the catwalk season trend Fleeting popularity Noisy cheater in clothes Popularity Her "squeak" excites dudes Seasonal Changer What's worse than the weather? In the novel "Eugene Onegin" Pushkin called her "our tyrant" and the disease of "the newest Russians" What does a couturier create? . "person" who makes the last peep . "nurse" couturier Her "squeak" excites the dandy Her "squeak" excites fashionistas Her "squeak" excites dudes The latest in clothes Her "squeak" excites the dandy Being born, she makes the last cry This short list of templates is based on travel photos I've taken over the past few weeks. The list is not exhaustive, but it contains compositional techniques that I use most often. Let's start with the basics: Basic templates for photo compositionRule of thirds with clear backgroundA simple and effective way to highlight the subject and bring dynamics to the frame. Placement according to the rule of thirds for dynamism (placement in the middle for static scenes) and a clean background will help the viewer's eye to focus on the main subject, and not wander into the frame. The background can be as simple as an ordinary wall, or the background can be defocused. Ideally, you should choose colors between the subject and the background that work well together and complement each other. Rule of thirds with a balanced background
If you want to bring more storytelling to an image, try to find a background that balances out the subject. Help the viewer's eyes switch between the subject and the background. At the same time, it is still important to keep the background uncluttered with details so that they do not confuse and draw attention to themselves. Rule of thirds with lively foreground
This useful template is inspired by photojournalism. It will help to add a sense of action to the image. The saturated foreground in the shot evokes a sense of dynamism and helps to hide the chaotic background. Dynamic Diagonal
A very simple yet effective pattern that works great when dealing with an action. Diagonals, much more than straight lines, increase the dynamic effect and guide viewers' eyes through the image. Frame framing
There is no need to introduce this popular composition technique, which is also called “frame within frame”. This is an effective way to draw the eye of viewers to a particular element of the image. Framing the frame with people
It's a little trickier here, but still effective, mostly when using wide-angle lenses. The idea is to use the people as a natural frame for the main subject, as well as create guiding lines for more dynamics. Rule 10
This time the idea is to create an empty feeling in most of the picture for a more dramatic result. This technique works well with silhouettes or dark blue skies. Basically, white space in a picture adds drama. Triangle
Being the simplest shape, the triangle helps the viewer's eyes follow the three main elements that fill the frame. Note that it's important to really fill the frame with elements and not leave any useless white space. Placement in the middle
One of my favorite tricks is to place the subject in the center with a symmetrical separation of the background. This gives the image a sense of simplicity and balance. The lack of dynamics is ideal for calm and peaceful scenes, but I personally prefer to break this calm and predictability with the dynamic movement of the subject. Portrait: "view in the frame"
When the person being portrayed looks to the side, it creates a tension in the image that directs the viewer's eye to both sides of the picture. Guillotine
Here the idea is to remove the subject's head from the composition of the frame. This is done to increase the emphasis on other elements: hands, feet, tools, etc. The attention of people in the first place is automatically attracted to the eyes. Therefore, by cropping the head (and therefore the eyes), you will draw attention to the rest of the image. It is not necessary to remove the entire head, it is enough to remove the eyes. While these patterns help you make faster decisions, when the action is fast, they can block your creativity. Often when traveling, I came across advanced photographers who had a temporary stagnation in their work. They know all about camera settings and basic composition rules, but it's hard for them to go beyond their usual images. Looking through their portfolio, one word comes to mind - “predictability”. As I flip through picture after picture, I see the same patterns. The photographs are, of course, very good, but they lack originality due to the excess of these templates. Therefore, the prudent photographer uses templates to be faster and more efficient, but adapts them with originality to each specific situation or moment. It's also important to keep creating new patterns that you can opt out of at any time. This helps the photographer develop and maintain originality. If you want to improve your photos, review your work: what patterns do you see in them? Are they redundant? Are there too many of them in your pictures? If you follow your patterns too hard, you'll end up shooting the most "predictable" compositions over and over again. When you look at your favorite images, how do they differ from others? How did you manage to break the usual patterns and come up with more original images? What can we do to break with our usual patterns and come up with more creative images? Free up and get creativeStudying the work of other photographersThe easiest way is to look at the work of other photographers. When you see pictures of colleagues that turn you on, look at and analyze the pictures. Try to understand what part of the composition makes this image feel special? We all have a lot to learn from looking at other people's work, so this is a good start.
In continuation of this idea, why not take a photography course in an unfamiliar area? Earlier this year, I participated in a documentary photography workshop in Malaysia. This event opened the doors to a new world for me. As a travel photography professional, I never imagined anything like this.
Take a fresh lookThere are tools with which you can take a fresh look at things. The most important of these is light. By focusing solely on it (and the shadow), you can begin to see things differently. If the light falls only on a certain part of the subject, you can remove the part that is in the shadow, and the composition will immediately change. Focusing on the light, we forget about our patterns and follow only the lines and directions that the rays of light give us. Change for the betterI also find it very useful to reverse the situation when we substitute our image. Instead of asking yourself what I want to include in the frame, focus on the elements that you don't need and would like to exclude. This approach complements the method in which we use light to build a composition. Instead of thinking about your usual frame construction (subject, background, etc.), dictated by hackneyed patterns, you think only about the essential conditions: about the light and the lines that it creates. When you decide to remove any other element, your brain no longer tries to compose using one of the templates, but simply follows what the light dictates.
Use different equipmentI think another good way is to use different cameras. Of course, equipment is not the main thing in photography, but by using various tools, you can break your usual patterns. When I see people shooting great portraits with 85mm or 100mm lenses wide open, I advise them to shoot 35mm at f/8.0 for a while. Then they stop thinking in the usual way and begin to look at things with new eyes. In the same way, you can try changing the usual proportions. If you switch to shooting in a square format, the rule of thirds will have a different effect, you will see how the frame will stack up.
Working in the mindBut I think that the best way is not with technique, but with working in the mind. Using different cameras, lenses, parameters and proportions, you are actually leaving your comfort zone. Then you enter the learning zone. But that won't happen if you only do things you're good at. When you try to change the state of your mind (I'm not talking about going to photograph while intoxicated, although this option can also lead to interesting results), your photo composition will immediately change. If you're a travel photographer like me, why not become a photojournalist for a day? I find that my shot compositions and approaches are very different when I'm working on a long-term project and/or a series of images. I spend more time studying the different elements of the situation: working on the details, the shapes, the patterns, trying to capture the deeper emotions of the characters - that's what I can fully focus on, and not on the composition of the shot. Street photography is another area where I have drawn a lot of inspiration. Walking the streets as a street photographer requires a completely different approach than travel photography. When I do this, I have to refrain from shooting things that are familiar to me and look for new, original elements. I'm more busy looking for lights, shadows, shapes, or funny scenes that take place on the streets.
Once you get out of your comfort zone, you will have to come up with a whole new set of rules for photo composition, which will lead to experimentation and, most likely, teach you something. Perhaps at first it will be difficult, disappointments are not ruled out. But is anything of interest if it is too simple? A picture is worth a thousand words. This old hackneyed phrase is more relevant than ever when it comes to capturing the attention of an audience. Because facts are facts, numerous studies confirm that images grab people's attention. Experts at HubSpot, a software company for marketers, have collected some interesting statistics that show how powerful visual content can be as a communication tool:
In design, visual images mean a lot, their role can hardly be overestimated. Images help make almost any project more effective and memorable. And if a designer wants his work to stand out from other similar projects, then he must take good care of the visual content. It doesn't matter if you use your own photos or images taken from stock, before using them in a project, you need to make sure that everything is in order with them. Size, composition, color reproduction, white balance - literally everything is important. And to make your work easier, all adjustments can be done in Canva. Framing: focusing on the main thing and composing
Cropping is one of the best ways to improve a picture. Cropping can help you remove unnecessary or distracting elements of the frame, improve composition, and highlight the most important thing. Attention! If you decide to crop the image, do not rush to remove too much, proceed gradually. If the picture is cropped too much, then you can lose a lot of important things. In addition, a strong crop reduces the quality and resolution of the picture. As a result, if such a heavily truncated image suddenly has to be enlarged, it will fall apart into pixels. There is a relatively safe way to crop - this is the rule of thirds. The original image is divided into three parts vertically and horizontally, as a result of which a lattice of two horizontal and two vertical lines appears on top of the image. Here, look:
How to crop in Canva:
 Cropping in Canva can be repeated as many times as you like until you achieve the desired result. If it doesn't work the first time, just open the source again and try again. Blur: Enhance background images
Sometimes images need to stand out, but there are times when they shouldn't be the center of attention. It is not surprising, but sometimes the picture works well as a "voiceover". Well, you understood that we are talking about background images. Photos, especially good ones, can enhance any design. But since most often it turns out that the text is placed on top of the background illustration, a problem arises - due to the many small details in the photo, the content is poorly readable. What can be done in such a case? Alternatively, apply a blur effect to the image. As a result, the background will become softer and more concise. If you don’t get too carried away with the blur, then in the background photo you can save recognizable images that will work to create an overall impression. Using blur, you can create almost abstract backgrounds with soft color transitions or images with indefinite shapes. This is a good solution if the design needs to be given a bit of dynamics. The picture at the same time looks much better than just a plain background and at the same time is devoid of all distracting details. How to blur an image in Canva
 Sometimes it happens that nothing happens in the editor. To make sure that the image was blurred, you need to click away from the image and see what has changed. But more often everything works fine and you can immediately see how the blur works. Saturation: change the intensity of huesPhotographers and designers often experiment with saturation to slightly tone down or enhance color tones. The less saturated the color, the closer it is to a gray tint. If you take and completely discolor the picture, you get the usual black and white image. And if reducing saturation is relatively safe, then you need to be very careful with amplification - too bright colors can look unnatural.
How to change saturation in Canva:
Contrast: working with light and shadowContrast enhancement is often used to create a dramatic effect. Increasing the contrast makes the shadows deeper and the light elements of the image appear much brighter. If you reduce the contrast, the picture will become more monotonous. As with saturation, too much contrast is not always a good thing. Some images benefit from contrast, but you should not get carried away with this technique, especially if the original image is of good enough quality.
Working with contrast in Canva:
BrightnessNot everyone can say with certainty whether it is worth making the image more or less bright. Too light a picture can lose some of its content, the same effect can be achieved by making the photo less bright.
In any case, it is best to experiment with brightness on high-quality images, since by making it a little brighter or darker, you can achieve the desired result. If the source is so-so, it is better not to touch it at all. You need to keep in mind that any editing changes the image, but brightness is the most dangerous effect. The slightest mistake - and the image will become unbalanced. So it is better to work with brightness when there is an exact confidence in the need for this manipulation. Working with Brightness in Canva
Other Ways to Improve Your ImagesFilters. Thanks to Instagram and other apps, filters have become a very popular photo editing tool. Filters are more commonly used to add an "artistic" effect to an image. But with skillful use, a properly selected filter can significantly improve the original image. There are many preset filters in Canva's menu where you can sort through the options to find the most suitable effect and then apply it to the image.
Composition. Any design project is based on a grid - this is the basis of composition. Canva allows you to create a composition from multiple images. The easiest way is to choose a suitable template in the "Layouts" section and fill it with your own images.
Framework. Sometimes you need to add a border, simple or decorative, to an image. Frames can be very different: large and small, colored and not, round or square. If the design dictates that the picture be in a frame, all you need can be found in the online graphics editor Canva.
Layering or overlay. Blurring is one of the main ways of muting the background for better readability of the text. But you can achieve about the same result without changing the sharpness of the background image. This method is called an overlay - another layer of the desired color is superimposed on top of the original image, after which you need to play with its transparency. As a result, you can not only make the text more readable, but also change the color tone of the background image.
Typography. Up to this point, it has been about working with images. But the text is also often part of the illustration. Can I work with text in Canva? Of course, yes, there is everything you need for this. You can add your own heading, subheadings and body text, change the font style and size. Canva also comes with several pre-installed text designs and over 100 different fonts, which you can add to your list by downloading from your computer. |
