Listen. There is bad photography. There are bad photographers. There are photographers with incredible technical skills and no people skills. There are photographers with wonderful people skills who couldn't compose a shot with the rule of thirds printed out from wikipedia. People have different skills, for sure. But by FAR, the most important skill a photographer can have is self awareness. To have the intuition to know yourself, and adjust your actions and you words accordingly. If you think you're amazing, and you just plain aren't, well then that's a problem. For you. If you think you're terrible, but are actually quite good, that's also a problem, from a business sense. The same principle applies to business sense, by the way. You cannot expect to run a business and act and speak as an amateur. If you want to charge people money, you can't whine and complain about something your kids are doing to your PAYING CLIENTS while expecting them to take you seriously. You can't do eight different things half-assed then wonder why none of them are successful. If you are completely unaware, and have no sense about your own abilities, you will fail. No question.
How do you obtain self awareness? Through a combination of humility, intelligent discussion, and being open. If you are incapable of any one of these things, your process will be stunted. As will your artistic growth.
One of my biggest pet peeves with the portrait industry right now is copycats. Everything looks the same. And I think it's a symptom of lack of self awareness, on many levels. For one, there are master photographers out there with a specific style and voice who are open and willing to share their knowledge and skill with those who want to learn. This is a wonderful thing. And the freeflow of knowledge is an important and vital thing in a creative industry. The flaw, however, is that so many photographers are not aware of their own ability, and even more tragic, their own voice and point of view. So they take classes, pay for seminars, read books, blogs, beg other professionals for tips and tricks. When what they are really seeking is an actual voice. Because they have none. Nothing identifiable as their own. You wanna waste your money and your time and your effort trying to be a watered down version of someone else? Go for it. But don't expect anything in return. Certainly not my respect. Certainly not the label of "artist" or "professional". There is a massive difference between inspiration and just plain copying. And it's apparent.
Every day I get closer to finding my own voice, my own perspective. But I can, at the very least, say that I am always myself. I have never once, not ever, seen something incredible and tried to copy it. (Oh, how do you do that? I wanna do that!) Never once asked someone how to do something so I could try to do the same. I am aware of my own abilities, my own point of view. And for that, I am proud.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
5 comments:
I agree with you on this, especially since photography is ART. People (some who even dare to call themselves photographers), forget that just taking a damn picture does not qualify as photography.
On another note, although I think of myself as more self aware than most, I find it difficult to sell myself at times. I've finally realized this flaw however, and am doing my best to eradicate it.
Lastly, you are a great writer. Keep on keeping on!
Hmmm...interesting.
I do agree though, voice is the most important thing an artist needs to have. Without it, it's all pretty pointless.
Exactly Ryan. And it's unbelievable to me that so many "photographers" 1. don't understand that and 2. don't see that they themselves have no voice. I mean, in portraiture, specifically, let's be honest, we're not documenting Iraqi rebels here, but it drives me insane when other people who can't even take a decent photo on their own start looking to other people for help.
And Leann- that's exactly what I mean! So many problems stem from a lack of awareness. You should be able to sell yourself- you're incredible. And the fact that you're AWARE enough to work on your confidence in that arena speaks volumes.
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