On motivation

“The great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together.”
Vincent van Gogh.

Athletes know that motivation is easy to achieve, but difficult to sustain. This is true for any activity, which requires overcoming obstacles through practice. In particular, continuing motivation is essential for an artist. For me, van Gogh exemplifies this most of all. His life has been extensively studied and documented, but he himself also wrote about this in detail in his letters to his brother Theo. In fact, the letters are the primary reference for many studies of his life.

My wife and I are making travel plans for the next summer, and I am excited that one of the stops will be Amsterdam. Although my primary reason for going there is a conference on marine engineering, I am really looking forward to going once again to the van Gogh museum. There is something special about seeing the brushstrokes, about which so much has been written and debated over the years. This is my motivation to think about colors in my photography. Also, I find it fascinating how the cycle of mutual influence between Japanese and European art was completed by van Gogh, who applied his distinct technique to re-create the works of ukio-e masters, who themselves were influenced by Western painters.

This is how easy it is to achieve motivation. Check. Now, to the hard part – to carry this initial inspiration through and transform it into some meaningful images from the upcoming trip.