At a small workshop for photographers in Sydney, I gave a presentation about looking inward to spark your creativity. I shared a bit about my personal journey and how I’ve become the artist that I am today. One of the questions that I was asked over coffee and biscuits afterwards was to do with my initial reaction to freelensing and how I responded when I first saw it. I gave an answer about feeling curious and as I drove home I wondered about this question. How did I feel when I first saw freelensing? I decided it was a good question to ask some of my favourite creative photographers and share our answers here.

Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart - Elizabeth Gilbert

I had goosebumps that first time I saw a freelensed image. It was in a P52 project group, and Anita Cline shared a stunning image of her daughter-in-law. I was completely drawn to the blur, and the story it told by being out of focus. It felt nostalgic and full of mystery. I had no idea how she created it, and so I put on my big girl pants to send her a message. The passion was ignited. I honestly struggled with embracing the blur and being technically incorrect. I’d just spent 5 years learning how to nail focus, and now I wanted to throw that away to create images that were out of focus. So I resisted letting go but I felt a pull to the creative blur, like a rip. I could struggled, going nowhere, or I could I let go! I went with the tide to see where it would take me, and I found a place for my creative heart, a place to make my art, and be me.

When I’ve discovered double exposure, my world changed! As a graphic designer, I’ve been working in Adobe Photoshop all my life, experimenting with overlays to make double and triple exposures to insert into my designs. When I discovered how simple it was to create double and triple exposures directly from my camera a couple of years ago, I was like a child receiving a huge gift from Santa! I remember reading everything about double exposure and how experimenting with it can elevate your photography practice. Hope this will inspire you to try double exposure too!. - Tanya

"I'm what the psychology world thinks of as a rare duck. Diametrically organised and controlled yet creative and emotional. This clash of thinking preferences can be the seat of great inspiration or massive procrastination. When I find my work feeling stale or when I struggle to latch on to an idea I set myself a creative challenge. Attempting my first double exposure was one such challenge.

Sometimes the double exposure effect is light and ethereal as one layer simply adds texture to the other. Sometimes its dramatic, as two images fold into one another to create something else entirely unseen in nature. I like to create double exposures at both ends of that spectrum.

Creativity is fuelled by an ongoing commitment to play and challenge. It requires moments of quiet reflection on the work that has gone before (your own and that of others) and messy moments of personal exploration trial and error. I realise in writing this that it's something I need to do more of. Because even if the resulting work isn't my best, the work that follows is always better as a result of pushing myself." - Aimee

”I’m not sure there was one single moment that captured my attention with my return to film.  I’m a slow learner, I like to take my time & it’s been & still is an ever-evolving process.  Film & I have very similar personalities.

What I love most of all about film photography is that there is a little bit of the unknown, by not completely knowing what I’ve captured I have to lean in & trust myself technically… and just as much creatively.  It helps me slow down & to see what’s really in front of me, it helps me to let go to play, it helps me to search for the light, & to find & hold on to the good moments.

In essence it’s the wabi-sabi, it’s simple, the process is slow & along with it’s imperfections of the grain & blur & the contouring of the light it reveals an authenticity. Something that is very deeply connected to the very thing I’m capturing, it’s a process that mirrors all those beautiful perfect imperfections of life, of family & of love. It’s these imperfections that I know so well, and so it wraps it’s self around my hearts & sings to my soul.” - Kelly

When I first began to notice double exposures I was mesmerized by the complexity of their creation. Landscapes superimposed over portraits were becoming very popular, however I have to admit I wasn’t tempted to give them a go until I saw the work of Becs Viveash. She seemed to use double exposures to sketch her ideas over one another, to layer her thoughts and embrace her craving for both texture and story. As I began trying my own flavor of double exposures many of the results were clumsy and random in feel, but I tried and tried again. I attempted layering different subjects, and then simply repeating the same subject to emphasis a point and give a new depth. Although I’ve since shot hundreds of double exposures, almost always in camera, I still feel the process is somewhat uncertain but I adore this part of it. It’s so freeing, and often creates a painterly artwork that I love. ‘Believe in the process and create the unseen’ is a new motto of mine and double exposures allow me to do just this. - Chloe

“I first tried using the double exposure in my photographic work back in 2017 after seeing an incredible photo that Nichole Quinn had taken of one of her sons. I was drawn to they way the floral layer added depth and softness to the strong masculine portrait. My first double exposure is still one of my most favourite that I have created, a portrait of my son Fin with a fern. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. The result was more an accident than any skill but it was my first taste of creative photography. I use double exposure often in my portraiture and the second image is my latest version of Fin & Fern. I love the way double exposure can add depth to an image and help tell a story in a way a single photo sometimes can’t do. Other techniques that I now use regularly are freelensing, shooting through objects, creative lens (Lensbaby), reverse macro and slow shutter speed.” - Victoria