A composer’s view on photography and the creative process
by Phil Ruokis
(click on thumbnails for full-size images)
Music and photography share much in both form and function. I felt a strong creative urge early in life and experimented with multiple disciplines including music, architecture, and traditional b/w film photography – ultimately, my path and passion lay in the musical realm. Recent advances in digital imaging prompted me to re-examine still photography as an additional means of creative expression. 
The process of composing music and arriving at a realization of one’s original concept via live performance can be quite involved, occupying many days, months or years. Photography, especially that which involves a completely digital workflow, can provide a much more immediate realization of the artist’s creative vision. Over the course of developing a daily photoblog, I have discovered that the creative process can transcend the media used for final output – I’d like to share some of the inherent similarities I have discovered between composition and photography while also offering a glimpse into my own creative process. By examining these similarities between multiple disciplines, we can more clearly see the universal nature of the process itself.
There are many ways in which music and photography may be compared but fundamentally, both creative disciplines involve 
an awareness of form at all levels. Composers must be aware of standard rules of musical form in the same way that photographers must be conscious of accepted principles of ‘good’ visual composition. Whether we are discussing music or photos, there must be a certain level of familiarity provided by the artist for the benefit of the audience members regardless of their roles as listeners or viewers. The core of this familiarity lies in repetition and the awareness on the part of the photographer or composer of the expectations of their audience. In composing music, the basic building blocks are melody, harmony, and rhythm – in making photographs our basics consist of light, shadow, and usually color. Both sound and light have certain tendencies of behavior that by virtue of their frequent use, have become familiar and expected elements in particular styles of music or genres of photography. These expectations often become regarded as elements of form based on continued use. A greater awareness of basic elements of form on the part of the artist can ensure a more effective and meaningful communication of artistic intent to one’s audience. Let’s also bear in mind that form can be expressed at many levels, from that of a simple piano solo or matted print to more structurally elaborate works such as symphonies and full gallery showings. This leads us on to the concept of the extended series – smaller forms united in the expression of a larger form.
In deciding what photos to present along with this article I knew that two conditions should be met: first, all images should come from previous blog postings – second, the chosen images should articulate a musical form. I immediately thought of the dance suites used so often as compositional motivation in the Baroque period by the likes of J. S. Bach and colleagues when 
finally settling on the series seen here – these multi-part suites used familiar dance forms as a vehicle to deliver new melodic or thematic material to audiences who were immediately more receptive as a result of their recognition of the various dances. Form and familiarity serve the creative process well once again. The first image presented here is that of a simple decorative scroll, converted to black and white and cropped from the original image to focus more on the proportions of the scroll and their spatial relation within the frame. The feedback commentary received on this early image posting prompted me to use the theme of decorative stonework for a later, planned series represented by the next six images seen here. The driving element used to create the stonework series was that of a progression from simple to complex and back again – we begin with a straightforward angular slab and end with the simplicity of solid stone columns while traveling through varying degrees and concentrations of angle, arc and curve. Instinctively, there are mirrored angles found between the first and last image in the stonework series – unconsciously, arc and scroll appear and reappear. These are the structural and formal elements that come from the gut, the ones that sometimes can only be discovered after a period of separation from one’s own work. The final accompanying image is a natural and organic expression of the scroll geometry seen in the original shot and a reminder that we are so often inspired by naturally occurring forms. The idea of emulating musical forms both small and large in a photographic context helps provide direction in planning a series in addition to serving as a resource for creative devices that allow the artist to freely explore within a set of established boundaries.
Famous avant-garde composer Arnold Schoenberg had a view of the creative process that has stayed with me since the first time I read his important theoretical treatise, ‘Fundamentals of Musical Composition’ as a young student of the craft:
“A composer does not, of course, add bit by bit, as a child does in building with wooden blocks. He conceives an entire composition as a spontaneous vision. Then he proceeds, like Michelangelo who chiseled his ‘Moses’ out of the marble without sketches, complete in every detail, thus directly forming the material.”
Whether working musically or visually, I’ve found Schoenberg’s concept to be true for my own creative process – it’s not about making something from nothing…it’s about the discovering of what’s already there for us to see or hear and presenting it in a way that can be appreciated and understood by a larger community. It always pays to look back on your personal creative output for signs of growth or stylistic evolution; separating from one’s creative output for a time can be very valuable in this process. It was during a recent ‘personal slide show retrospective’ in which I silently 
viewed my catalog of posted images that I really became aware of the fact that I was naturally using the same devices and methods in my photographic creative process that I had adopted and refined as a composer.
Much of my music is linear in nature – several independent melodies of differing rhythm work together or in opposition to suggest the harmony that would be presented in a more obvious fashion with larger blocks of sound played in the same rhythm. I find that I often draw upon linear themes when composing images as well. Frequently a properly and deliberately placed line or curve will provide an image with that extra impact, so I’m constantly aware of basic compositional elements such as line and shape while lining up a shot. Because my musical output deals primarily with linear forms, I’ll fully investigate different harmonies that are suggested by melodies in order to maintain logical relations within the musical structure and to provide a more organic relation 
between compositional thoughts or ideas – this concept ensures that the material relates to itself and provides a more interesting and layered end result. Likewise with photography, the exploration of visual themes within an image or across a series of images can very effectively draw viewers into a more dimensional experience – explore basic spatial and shape relationships in your image making and you’ll find visual opportunities you may not have noticed before. In attempting to maintain a more coherent direction in musical composition, small ‘cells’ of information can be manipulated in various ways to generate additional variations of interest that still relate to the core material from which a piece originates. Again, this method can be found in photographic composition – look for repeating elements and themes within your intended frame and observe how smaller shapes and patterns can also be seen in a larger scale. Often, this concept is what will add resonance and more levels of visual interest to an already fine image, making it superb.
Within academic musical circles, it’s not uncommon to be asked a question along the lines of, “Where did this particular note come from?” 
This question stems from the idea that the composer must have full awareness of intent throughout the entire creative process – my own experience tells me that this is not necessarily the case, since some of my most accepted and highly regarded musical works were also those that were realized with equal parts instinct and intent. It has become my belief that method can be a means to creative freedom. The most basic device I’ve discovered to enable this creative freedom is the establishment of a set of working parameters – a definition of boundaries within which you are free to explore. Define your rules and ‘occupy’ the creative space set by those rules with the freedom to do anything within the chosen limits. Too often we can become obsessed with analyzing the creative process while at the same time attempting to follow that same creative process – it’s been said that analysis is paralysis, so by taking the time to separate the analytical aspect of creativity, the intent, from the visceral and often emotional aspects, the instinctive, we allow ourselves to focus on each component of the process when appropriate. This concept has proven effective both musically and photographically.
Managing a photoblog has been an immersive means of renewing the creative spark– the fundamental parameter that encompasses all others is: Post Daily, and this regular exercise in working the creative process has revealed to me that above all we must press forward in our creative explorations – learning never stops.
