On Creativity, with Brian Wilson

Over on CNN.com, Todd Leopold takes a look at the genius of Brian Wilson. Which, you know, is great and all. But what on earth does this have to do with visual journalism?

We all love the Beach Boys, right? It’s the angle that he sets out on, though maybe doesn’t fully attain, that intrigues me – it’s the creative genius of Wilson he is talking about.

I share it because of this one graf:

For creativity is not just defined by untethered, high-flying talent that flashes like lightning then fades into the darkness. It requires sustainability. It includes, to overlapping degrees, risk taking, genre-mixing skill, an aptitude for improvising and — above all — passion. Experts make a distinction between everyday creativity and big-C Creativity, and Wilson has the latter in spades.

Because that, that’s what we need to remember now. We need big-C Creativity in our work. We need to not only pursue stories that matter but also do it in a way that is new, fresh, unique. In a way that people will pay attention to them.