Does not the very word 'creative' mean to build, to initiate, to

When Berenice Abbott proclaimed, “Does not the very word creative mean to build, to initiate, to give out, to act—rather than to be acted upon, to be subjective? Living photography is positive in its approach, it sings a song of life—not death,” she spoke as both an artist and a prophet of vision. Her words remind us that to be creative is not a passive gift, but an active force, a shaping of the world rather than a mere reflection of it. Creation is motion, fire, and birth; it is the will that transforms the unseen into the visible.

The ancients knew this truth. The Greek word poiesis, from which we draw “poetry,” meant “to make.” To be creative was to participate in the divine act of making, echoing the very first builders of cosmos. Abbott saw in photography not a cold capturing of shadows, but a living testimony to existence, a declaration of life itself. Where others feared that the camera was mechanical, she proclaimed it a vessel for spirit, a tool to affirm rather than to deny.

Her own work bore witness to this philosophy. In the 1930s, Abbott turned her lens upon New York City, capturing the rise of skyscrapers, bridges, and bustling streets. These were not monuments of stone and steel alone, but symbols of human striving, resilience, and rebirth. Each photograph was positive, not because it ignored hardship, but because it declared that within the pulse of the city, life was victorious over despair. In her hands, the camera sang as she said—a song of affirmation.

Consider also the contrast she draws: to act, not to be acted upon. History tells us of Leonardo da Vinci, who saw in paint not just color but motion, anatomy, and breath. His brush did not merely replicate the world—it reimagined it, infused it with spirit. So too Abbott insists that the creative is never passive; it is the will to move forward, to affirm existence with boldness, to breathe vitality into what would otherwise remain inert.

Therefore, let her words be a charge to future generations: let your creativity be an act of courage, of affirmation, of life. Do not dwell in shadows or in imitation alone. Instead, let your work sing—as Abbott’s photographs did—with the song of existence, fierce and radiant. For to be truly creative is to be allied with the living, to build rather than dismantle, to sow hope rather than despair, to join in the eternal hymn that declares: life is here, and it must be celebrated.