After a few posts on learning, I thought it was time for something different: a post on unlearning. This week I’ve been in Ottawa to relaunch our Action Learning program at work. Action Learning is where a group of people come together to help one person resolve an issue or problem by posing questions for that person. The idea behind this is that the person with the issue knows the answer to their problem but they just cannot access it. What it requires is for them to think about their problem from a different perspective, to essentially step outside of their current form of knowing, to take a different action, and create a new reality for themselves. This process mirrors the struggle creatives go through as they seek new ways of viewing the world and in doing so, gain a perspective that allows them to see their world in a new way. As I looked further into this parallel I found out that Action Learning has its roots in the work of psychologist Otto Rank who wrote Art and Artist. Wikipedia writes that “through the lens of Otto Rank’s work on understanding art and artists, action learning can be seen as the never-completed process of learning how to “step out of the frame” of the ruling mindset, whether one’s own or the culture’s –in other words, of learning how to unlearn.”
What does all this psycho-babble mean for photographers? To access our creativity, we need to learn to unlearn, to place what we already know in a box, close the lid, and to reach into the void for new interpretations, new ways of expressing ourselves. Need some inspiration? Take a look at Andrew Zuckerman’s new book “Bird“. He takes a technique normally reserved for his portraits of people and uses it for bird photography. Be sure to watch the short video on the making of the images. How about work of photographer Platon? He threw out the conventional wisdom of not shooting people with a wide angle lens and developed a whole new distinctive style.
In the spirit of Action Learning, I’ll leave you with a couple of questions to help move you to unlearning.
- What current thinking do you have that might be preventing you from moving in a different direction?
- What would you do if you knew for sure it would be successful?
I invite you to be brave and leave your answers in a comment below. Be anonymous if that helps!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by sabrinahenry and sabrinahenry, Jere Judd. Jere Judd said: RT @SabrinaHenry: My Lastest Blogpost: A New Direction: Unlearning http://tinyurl.com/yd5snp3 Good stuff. (Typo corrected in later post) [...]
Thanks for the good post, Sabrina Henry. I’ve also been (un)learning, and more than I would have ever guessed, from Otto Rank.
Great post Sabrina!
Hey Sabrina-
Thanks for this post. I read it this morning and it’s been perking away in the back of my mind all day.
What would I do if I knew it for sure that it would be successful? I’d start. I’d turn my back on Resistance (and all the family and friends that believe that life requires working 9-5 for someone else), and start.
Like I said… thanks
Tommy, I see you’ve been reading Otto Rank’s “Art and Artist”! It looks like you’re on a wonderful (un)learning journey :]
Thanks Jeffrey! Your good opinion always means a lot to me.
Erin, thanks for being so brave and leaving your comment. Your answer is pulling at my heart strings but in AL, we don’t give advice. We just keep asking questions to help you access what you already know. So…what needs to happen for you to start?
Hmmm… I wish I knew. I’ll give it some thought.