The Creative Life Adventure

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Welcome back to the Creative Life Adventure.

Sometimes, the best inspiration is to enjoy the creative effort of other people. A favorite book or a stroll through an art museum can provide comfort during difficult times, but I’m talking about something else. During creative dry spells, few things spark motivation more than studying the creative work of others. In that spirit, I’d like to suggest these five content creators – in no particular order – whose work I appreciate and admire:

Floor 796

A brilliant example of world-building, Floor 796 is an animation of the 796th floor of a fictional space station. It’s easy to become hypnotized exploring “characters from movies, TV series, games, anime, memes, etc.,” per the creator’s description. It’s hard to know where to start in listing the seemingly infinite character / franchise representations, but everything from Scooby Doo to Doctor Who to King Kong to The Godfather and far beyond shows up somewhere on Floor 796.

Simply Railway

I’m a fan of rail travel, and if you’re not, you don’t know what you’re missing. During the peak months of the Covid 19 pandemic, one source of comfort was the thriving train culture on YouTube. Since then, I’ve been following Thibault Constant’s YouTube channel Simply Railway. About once a week, Simply Railway brings the viewer along on a different rail journey. Most of the trips are in Europe, but Constant has also visited the U.S., Argentina, Mexico, and other countries. Simply Railway is thorough in reporting price, seat / room comfort, food availability, lavatory cleanliness, and overall ride quality. Simply Railway is great fun and a creative exploration of the places you can go without a car or airplane. A surprise bonus: Constant recently announced that he is launching a night train company, Nox Mobility, scheduled to begin operation in 2027.

Colin Marshall

Along with transit, I have a general interest in city life and urban planning. Colin Marshall’s “Notebook on Cities and Culture” is an old school Web site where you can explore Marshall’s many essays reviewing books on cities, articles from The Guardian, film reviews, and a myriad of other content. One of his recent essays is a review of David Byrne’s Bicycle Diaries (yes, that David Byrne), a book I highly recommend. And don’t miss Marshall’s video series The City in Cinema on Vimeo.

Tatiana Hopper

Tatiana Hopper loves photography, and she loves movies. Her dual YouTube channels – one on photography and one on movies – both explore the infinite potential of visual storytelling. I also admire Hopper’s “big picture” approach, putting specific subjects into a historic context. Her approach is inspirational rather than technical – thankfully, she doesn’t dwell on such mundane topics as gear, camera settings, etc. Her rather new film channel includes videos on David Hopper and Jim Carrey, among others. And her well-established photography channel has recently explored the work of Ernst Haas and Susan Meiselas, among many others. Whether you’re interested in film, video, or still photography, you will find plenty of food for thought here.

Pixels

Another photography YouTube channel I always enjoy is Pixels, hosted by Beth Buelow (her website includes a portfolio of her own brilliant work). In each Pixels episode, Buelow interviews a contemporary photographer, exploring the photographer’s history and philosophy along with an in-depth discussion of specific works. The long-interview format and Beulow’s enthusiasm makes Pixels one of my favorites among the numerous photography YouTube channels I follow.

Finally, the featured image for this post comes from a recent trip to Oakland, California, where I spotted this creatively decorated U.S. mail truck.