Welcome to my Flickr profile page. This page is sponsored by Nothing™ and the Nobody Brands of Emptiness®. Please enjoy these words about photography, creativity and things.

I want to tell a story and to invite people into that story. For a time I was very conceptual, creating elaborate compositions to help convey some larger meaning — sometimes very silly, sometimes very serious. I'm not sure if I have any style or any discernible signature to my photos, I just try and pull as much story from the moment I capture as possible. Nowadays, when I do take photos (which sadly isn't as often), I strip away as much details as possible and allow space (and clever titling) to allow someone to elicit their own meaning from the images.

I don't want to waste your time with my photographs. There's enough self-indulgence and meaningless distractions in life, I don't want to generate more noise. If you can look at one of my photos and laugh, be amused, intrigued or moved to an emotion, then I feel I've done something worthwhile.

No one wants to create something that no one sees or cares about. We all want to, at the very least, hear that what we do has meant something to someone. If I've engaged anyone with my silly photos, then I've come closer to creating something that isn't a mindless, meaningless distraction.

Where do I get my inspiration? Inspiration is a phantom. It might be a conversation I hear in the office, a song I can't get out of my head, a book I'm reading, a drawing my 4 year old is making, or perfectly cooked bacon — it's never solitary and it's never formulaic. One of my favorite exercises is to purposefully mishear things (ok, maybe I'm getting older and am actually mishearing things) and to explore the strange and ridiculous phrases and sentences that I think I hear (not unlike that scene in "Roxanne" where Steve Martin's character says "10 more seconds and I'm leaving" and Darryl Hannah mishears it as "Ermore sessions by sleeving"). It opens up a door to the absurd and silly and breaks my barriers of adult rigidity. All that to say, I have a hard time pinpointing any individuals or things or places or moments that inspire me; as I pull from so many disparate things: movies, comedy, books, cartoons, photography, music and roasted Brussels sprouts (which is completely a lame cop-out).

I try to approach everything I do (whether it's photography, design, podcasting, Vine videos or driving a car - well, maybe not driving my car) with child-like wonder and absurdity. At some point most of us grow out of playing, yet play is the best and most natural way to learn about yourself, the world and how you fit into the world. There's nothing more paralyzing than the daunting task of not making a mistake. The fear of failure kills creativity. Kids don't have that fear. They're explorers. Tunneling deep into their boundless imagination without worrying if it's true or silly or popular or marketable. I find it endlessly rewarding and challenging to try and harvest some of that mentality. I had it once, which means it's still in me.

Work: ChoreMonster

Photo: Wiseacre Photo

Me: i am paul armstrong

Blog: Armstrong Circus

Twitter: Wiseacre

Facebook: Paul Armstrong