Fostering sincerity
And what's inspiring me right now
Last opened 15 November 2025. Yes, that’s the last time I opened the project file for my latest personal project. To be fair, the last two months have been crazy, and this project hasn’t once entered my mind. It’s a simple video of some tranquil moments by a river and by the sea. What takes time is getting my mind to be still for long enough to think of what I want to say through it. It’s a lot of trying to remember why I shot it and trying to recover some vision for it.
One of the things I dislike the most in people is insincerity or a ‘fakeness’ that feels brutally obvious. I try my best not to be one of those people (maybe to too much of a great extent). But this means I hate forcing something upon a project just to get it done. It feels, well, forced. So I wait for it to hit me. I found, though, that it doesn’t often come out of thin air, even when I’m prayerful about it.
I started actively creating 10 years ago now, but have only recently honed in on what gets my creative juices flowing (ew, don’t say that). I am a firm believer in inspirations, references and obsessing over new creative discoveries that loosen your mind in a weird way. God also often uses other art to link up things in my mind, to kickstart my own exploration of something.
However, in the busyness of the end of the year, I realised I stopped consuming and allowing things to inspire me. That left nothing to move me towards something. Don’t get me wrong, I was still consuming, but only mindlessly, finding the easiest source of entertainment. It takes effort to find new, thoughtful, and different things. So let me tell you, when I was able to start diving into those again, it felt like so much room was made in my mind for dreaming up ideas or at least start connecting the dots of what I care about at the moment.
Long story long, these are some of the things that have been inspiring, encouraging or challenging me to push forward over the last while.
I’ll start with the less obvious choice, simple ink drawings. I’ve been loving this medium for a while, but have especially been enjoying ones of nature recently. I appreciate the simplicity of using lines to create pictures that don’t naturally lend themselves to straight lines. Yet, it works. Here are a few examples, and a not-so-precise start from me.
Music is always a great way to get your mind thinking visually because you’ve got to fill in the blanks. Here are some of the music that I’ve been appreciating:
And then, to the MOVIES! I fell in love with the new Netflix film Train Dreams (2025, dir. Bentley). Watching it was like a spa day for my eyes and ears. I’m also a big fan of trees, and it delivered on the trees, so I liked it even more.
I also watched Eternity (2025, dir. Freyne). An unexpected gem starring Elizabeth Olsen and Miles Teller. It surprised me completely. I thought it was going to be about someone’s version of the afterlife, but to quote my friend Chanel, “It’s about love!”. It’s truly and deeply about love. I adore a piece of art that can change your perspective or even realign your perspective on a topic as big as love. I’d recommend it, but bring tissues.
Sadly, I don’t have any photographers who are inspiring me right now. I’d love any recommendations of photos or photographers you’d think I’d like or find interesting.
I’m still working on my video project, but I’m feeling much more equipped to make something sincere. I’d love to hear what’s inspiring you right now. Whether it’s a movie, a book, a song or the weather. Leave a comment or send me a private message.
Thanks for reading, and see you next time!
A little bit about me.
Hi, I’m Talitha. I’m a Christian filmmaker and photographer from Cape Town, South Africa. I call myself a visual content creator because I dabble in all sorts of visual mediums. My favourite thing to do is to capture nature and my travels.