The Power of Journaling in Street photography.

Hipster_cph
Apr 3, 2024
4 min read

Updated: Jul 3, 2024

April 2024 - blog # 2

I have always kept a journal, but not always been good at keeping a consistent work flow. When I started my Youtube channel in the Summer of 2023 I started to note down my video and content ideas, as a way of brainstorming and keeping track of everything related to the channel in one place. This was more or less a practical tool, a to-do list of sorts to help me remember what to do, and less about self reflection, introspection and exploration for my street photography journey.

In this blog post I will cover three main parts; my process coming into the habit of journaling, the benefits that impacted me the most, and how I use journaling in Street photography to ensure long term progress.

My journaling process

A few months ago I read this fantastic book The Artist way by Julia Cameron. Mostly aimed toward artists such as screen writers and other creatives suffering from a creative block. The book has a very well developed framework and one of the fundamental techniques is what the author call "morning pages".

Essentially you write 3 pages of notes first thing in the morning, before distracting yourself with mails, social media or whatever you do in the morning. A stream of consciousness writing.

I consistently wrote morning pages for about a month. In the beginning it was hard because I wasn't used to writing down stuff - it felt forced and at times I didn't know what to write.

Slowly it started to feel easier and more natural. I started to notice that I didn't overthink certain things as much if I already had it noted down or processed in my journal. This was a aha moment for me.

Eventually this evolved into "classic" journaling for me. I dove head first into the world of journaling not knowing what I would find. More about this in "how section".

The many benefits of journaling

There are many benefits to journaling and research has shown it to improve mental health and help alleviate stress, depression and anxiety.

I will list 3 benefits that has impacted me the most since I started to journal:

A powerful tool for learning and development: I often like to give myself challenges or specific goals or ambitions to work toward. This is something I have adapted from my professional career as a management consultant. When I'm trying to reach a specific goal keeping a journal helps me monitor overall progress and work out what work still needs to be done. Once I complete or reach a goal, it feels so rewarding to look back on the journey often filled with ups and downs, and to be able to reflect on how much I've managed to achieve. This keeps me motivated to move towards my next goal.
Self-reflection and self awareness: I have always been a "thinker" I spend so much time in my own head. I often rigorously analyse and overthink things sometimes to a degree of giving myself a headache :) At some point self-reflection became self-awareness for me on the things occupying my mind and this allowed me to leave those things in the journal and free up my mind to focus on other important things.
Its unfiltered and raw nature: The great thing about journaling is that it made me vulnerable and more emotional (than I already am!). In order for me to get "real" results I had to be realistic in terms of goal setting and managing my own expectations. But also be able to share my thoughts on anything and everything as raw and unfiltered as possible. This has truly been liberating.

How I keep a journal in Street photography

What tools I use for journaling

Lets quickly talk about what I use to journal. As with anything I started to explore the world of journaling and much to my surprise I found that it's a serious topic on Youtube.

Yes, obviously I went way down the rabbit hole.

I use a physical pocket sized notebook and a field notebook that I typically carry with me on photo walks. Both are from Moleskine a bit pricey but worth the money. I also bought a great ball pen from Parker with classic blue ink (refill).

After trying out a few journaling methods I landed on a structure that I'm still refining. I use the "barebones" a strip down version of bullet journaling.

The structure of my notebook is a mix of monthly and half-yearly calendar overview, habit and goal trackers to ensure progress and a dedicated section for my unfiltered thoughts on Street photography where I record my street photography observations to revisit later.

How I use a journal in street photography

In addition to noting down my thoughts and observations I also use journaling prompts from time to time e.g. "what would I like to accomplish as a street photographer this year" or "what are my strengths and weaknesses". It can be anything to help facilitate the momentum.

I also regularly review my past entries which often gives food for thought because it helps illuminate patterns in past decision-making, and help refine my approach and make better and informed choices moving forward.

I want to wrap up this blog post with this simple message. If you are thinking about keeping a street photography journal but not sure how to start.

I can let you in on a secret - the great thing about journaling is that there are no rules or correct way of doing it. Just start and see what works.