I also believe in making photographs as beautiful as we can, so clearly, technical production is quite important to me.

What has kept my passion fresh was my decision to remove commercial enterprise from my photography. I simply don’t sell my photos. I give them away all the time, but not every time they’re requested because I don’t want my photos exploited or politicized.

This has freed me up to shoot the things that I want to shoot, as opposed to taking every gig possible just for the exposure or the money. Wanting to shoot something versus having to shoot something is certainly expressed in the finished product. Since making this decision, Karma has paid me back ten times. I’m a better and happier photographer.

I know this isn’t the solution for everyone. But when dealing with a true crisis of faith like the one described above, it may be just what the doctor ordered.

“Let’s not loose sight of something VERY important; stock photography isn’t about taking “great” photos, it’s about taking marketable ones. Making sure your images are market driven rather than “great” or just pretty pictures that you feel like taking will do more to ensure your success than any camera purchase.”

I guess success is subjective. For me, I’d rather sell less and photograph things that interest me first than sell a lot of photos of stuff that I’m not passionate about. If I want to shoot the Golden Gate Bridge then I’m going to give it 100% regardless of how many people shot it. If I want to shoot teenagers smoking drugs then what is what I’m going to do to the best of my ability. Shoot first, ask questions later and your soul will repay you when you are laying on your death bed.

Butch says, “What the hell ya mean move?” Cassidy then drops down and rolls on the ground while shooting and hits everything.

He did well because he did it HIS way and not the way he thought someone else wanted it.

Unfortunately photographers often do things the way they think others want to see it. Of course their images have no soul.

As a creative person we all need to bring our vision and style to the job. This includes everyone from designers and illustrators up to the almighty art director (last year I worked with one art director who is…well…he’s in the Navy now).

Sing with soul — and don’t forget to reload!

I am new to the UK editorial industry and believe strongly in shooting for yourself, even if no-one but you see’s those images.

I previously wrote an article on my website about shooting for yourself – if anything to remind myself of why I take pictures.

Check it out: http://www.mattkirwan.co.uk/technique/category/shoot-for-yourself/

Hopefully it will inspire someone else.

http://www.careykirkella.com/

I just took an amazing workshop at the Center for Photography at Woodstock (www.cpw.org), called “Art vs Commerce: Finding the Balance”. I had just been about to break down and make a ‘lifestyle’ portfolio of images that I thought potential clients would want to see, and just keep my ‘fine art’ portfolio separate from that work. I’m so glad I was steered away from that kind of limiting thinking! One of the main points that the photographer/teacher of the workshop makes is that it can be so much more beneficial to only show the work that reflects the purest version of yourself, rather than put yourself among the other 90% of photographers who are doing a lot of the same things as everyone else. If you stay true to yourself, you won’t be for everyone, but you’ll be for the right creatives that will benefit from your style. Maybe it sounds idealistic, but I can’t seem to bring myself to show anyone the more commercial work I’ve done (because it just doesn’t represent who I am, as a photographer), so I pretty much have no other choice. Hopefully I can keep it that way.

I’ve seen innumerable blogs that attempt to diagnose the problem, that (even) do an amazing job of pointing out the problems, gaps, and down-road hiccups.

I’d SO love it if you could spend some time to illustrate what photos you consider “real” and move you.

Photography is more a postmodern medium based on references if you try to make it too much in what you feel or in what you believe something kitschy usually results.

I would argue that a Wolfgang Tillmans or an Araki or a Nan Goldin are in the category of “real” and something you can believe in. Especially all their early works. Maybe the early works of Antonin Corbin (although we are already in “feelings for advertising” territory here I would say)

Being a fan of all things creative I had to chime in.
After 20 years in photography, I can tell you I do because it’s who I am and that I find meaning in it.

A couple of years ago, I made a conscious decision to make work that could sustain my family and touch the lives of others in a positive way. If couldn’t do it, I would get out of the business all together. A truly bold endeavor.

This path in the beginning was a lonely one to say the least. I forced myself to only show work that I felt strongly about. I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time or mine. I stopped caring about trends, who’s shooting what and how they did it. The world didn’t need more of the same and it would bother me when someone would say, “your work looks a lot like________”. At times, I thought that I was crazy and or arrogant for charting this course. But the path that I’ve taken has begun to bear fruit.

I’m doing less and less bread and butter work and it’s not a direction that I want pursue. I don’t kid myself for a second, there are a lot of people who can do it and the competition is fierce.

I the client side, I strive to work with those who share same core values and are champions of creative work. It’s much easier to get your vision across when you have a passionate ally in your corner.

I truly believe that as a means of survival, we must differentiate ourselves and that playing it safe has become the new dangerous.

PS Keep up the good work Rob, I think you’re onto something really great here.

-AP

On another note the internet isn’t going to go anywhere, this discussion wouldn’t happen at your local library.

Thanks, APE.

Paulyman.

@36: You’re absolutely right, TNess: Boogie is not only an amazingly talented photographer, but he’s absolutely fearless. A few years in the Serbian army makes corrupt TJ cops look like kids’ play when they “detained” us and took Boogie’s film and all our cash. Good times…

And I’m also talking about Adam Wright. Both of these guys shoot with and from their hearts. That’s it. For these two photographers, the project has to interest them and they have to be able to get emotionally involved. If they don’t see that in an assignment, they’ll walk away. Now, that can hurt both assigner and assignee, but those are the choices they’ve both made and they’ve both published insanely successful books.

What does that say?

The other part of the the equation is what happens when you sing from you heart and you are not sure if people are willing to listen. My breakthrough came at a workshop with an icon in the field. I was a great student – shot in a wonderful personal way and only later discovered that a person that we all love has trouble finding a place in the market as well.

You can sing from your heart as we should and still work to find a market for that vision. It doesn’t happen by itself.