Updated: 2 hours ago
A bleak, grizzly (grey and drizzly) day in Stockport, Manchester and as I was loading up on layers and debating adding my heated gilet and hat as I charged up my camera battery, ready for a photo walk. I had no idea what I had signed myself up for but my friend said it would be a good (and free) day - so off I went.
I arrived at On the Brink studios into their main workshop space and already felt the inspiration senses tingling. The room was full of wood working machinery, hand written signs and the whole place just had a hand made feel to it. The kind of space where creative potential is just oozing out of every inch.
A small group of us sat down with photographer Elle Brotherhood for a quick introduction and a coffee before we grabbed our cameras and set off into town.
Between us, our group had a good mix of smart phones and cameras to take our photos on. We very enthusiastically snapped the buildings, trees and general life of Stockport as we headed out of the gates and into the urban areas. Elle pointed out shapes and lines within the buildings, reflections, railway arches, textures and patterns as we marched along the street.
Although I've lived in Stockport for a few years now, it was really special to actually stop with my camera and to take some photos of the parts that I would normally rush past without a second thought. What a great excuse to stop and really look at what's there.
There's also something very refreshing about meeting a new group of people and doing a creative activity together, especially when walking and the elements are involved.
After a quick mooch around the main shopping area, we headed down Little Underbank for a nosey at the independent shops, some partially derelict buildings and some weathered artist murals. This area is one of my favourite parts of Stockport, there's a real sense of community and a sort of gritty unpolished-ness about the place and it's bursting with character and friendly faces.
After a quick nosey down some side streets and pointing out our favourite places to eat, drink and socialise, we set off to the Hat Works Museum where we finished the walk with a warming drink and a quick chat.
*Just reflecting back over the day, there was something nice about there being 'safety in numbers' with the group. It can feel a bit daunting sometimes going into urban spaces to take photos on your own. It was also a great excuse to take my big camera out for it's annual outing (shameful) it's so much easier to point and click my phone at things but today I made the conscious effort to learn some of the settings and just have a go.
This photo walk was created for the Women + Archives collective created by Manchester Metropolitan University and Stockport Hat Works Museum. An exhibition of all of the work produced will be held at Hat Works Museum 8th- 23rd March 2024. (My photos will be included in the exhibition too!)
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P.S. Some of my favourite places to visit in Stockport:
- Rare Mags - Beautifully crafted magazines, bursting with inspiration
- Laco Cafe - Huge fan of their goats cheese salad!
- Plant Shop - Beautiful plants and homewares
- Bohemian - My new favourite hair dressers
- Hilgate Cakery - Vegan cake deliciousness
- Cafe Sanjuan - Delicious Colombian food
Of course The Hat Works Museum will be reopening soon after a big refurb!
Add your favourites to the comments, where would you recommend?
Updated: Nov 24, 2023
Back out now if you're looking for a sensible recipe for your dinner.
How often do you add new flavours into your unique marinade? The magical part of the brain that holds all the juicy ideas and that stores up all the random things you encounter throughout daily life (very scientific).
I mentioned in my post about 'idle time' that it's important to spend time with ideas and with our creative tools nearby to allow the brain space for new ideas to develop and come to the surface.
This time, I'm thinking about the information that we feed into our brains before they get to work.
Think of an overnight oats recipe or a tasty marinade (bear with me on this one)... As you move around in your world, you collect tasty flavours from your unique hobbies / interests / likes / journeys / environment. You pop these ingredients into your mason jar of a brain and then you pop it in the fridge (your subconscious brain) to work it's magic. After a bit of time, you have a tasty breakfast or marinade that's 100% unique to you. This tasty marinade can help to flavour (not sorry) your creative problems and help to spark new ideas.
I'm a firm believer that the more random the flavours you smush together, the more exciting the marinade will be.
Sometimes if I'm really stuck and can't make an idea work, I'll pop it back into the 'jar' to collect some extra flavour, usually when I start to think about something else, an idea will pop up.
(Is it obvious that I was hungry when I was writing this?)
What ingredients do you have in your marinade? Horse riding? Jazz music? Your favourite part of the M56? Victorian Architecture?
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More Interesting bits:
Blog post by me : How Important Is Idle Time?
Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction by Chris Bailey
Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide by John Cleese
More random food and creative ideas related chat happens monthly in my Round Ups - sign up to get these straigh to your inbox.
Our Busy World
In our busy world where you could and probably feel like you should be doing something to achieve your absolute best, is it possible to find the time and space to switch our brains off from the noise? And why would that be important to the creative process?
'Idle time' and 'Productive Meditation'
I first heard of the idea of 'idle time' from singer James Bay on the Diary of a CEO podcast (9 mins in). Being creative whilst doing nothing sounds a bit like cheating the system- tell me more!
Bay talks about how to 'sit around with the tools nearby and just exist... and think... and dream... and play.' Gaining permission to make that creative brain space in our busy day to day life.
In another way, Cal Newport talks of 'productive meditation' in his book Deep Work. To sit and purposely thinking about an idea, whilst giving it the attention and space to develop. At the same time, being aware of when your attention drifts away, so that you can pull it back to the problem you were trying to solve.
Whether you decide to take your ideas out for a walk or sleep on them to come back with fresh eyes in the morning, letting go of the guilt of 'not doing anything' is sometimes easier said than done.
Be 'Weird' About It.
In 2008 (just before smartphones and Facebook became as widely used as they are today - in 2023) Finnish artist Pilvi Takala created an art installation called The Trainee. The artist spends time at a desk 'doing brain work'- to her colleagues it looks as if she's seemingly not doing anything at all and that starts to make them uncomfortable. The installation quietly threatens social norms and questions how 'masking laziness in apparent activity and browsing Facebook during working hours belong to the acceptable behavioural patterns of a work community'.
Taking part in your idle time might just question social norms, it might frustrate others that you're not doing something in particular. Guard this idle time and be weird about it. Try to get as much of it as you can, it's very important to the creative process.
Do you have a favourite place or time to squeeze in some idle time? In the car? On the bus? In the bath? Just in the middle of the afternoon, in your favourite chair, just because you can?
If you have a friend who might enjoy this kind of discussion, feel free to share this with them or if you have any thoughts on this subject please do leave a comment or drop me an email. To keep up with the latest blog posts, join my monthly round up here.
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More interesting bits:
Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less book by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the attention economy book by Jenny Odell
The Guardian article by Elle Hunt. 'Jenny Odell on why we need to learn to do nothing: ‘It's a reminder that you're alive’
Creativity, book by John Cleese
Pilvi Takala Challenging more social norms in The Stroker
