I have so many photographer friends.  Many are hobbyists, and others are professionals, either part-time or full-time.  Photography used to be my hobby, back when I did it simply because I loved photography.  I think that’s why most photographers DO photography, simply a matter of love.

I think most artists are fragile.  Okay, sure some artists are arrogant jerks (I only say that because I have known a few.) But for the most  part, artists are sweet beautiful people who see their “art” as an extension of themselves.  They/we want other people to love our art because we feel better about ourselves.  I might be wrong on that in some cases, but for the most part, all you have to do to make an artist smile is to tell them you love their art.  They/we bask in the adoration.  “Ahhh I am loved.” 🙂
And if you are a Facebook user, tell me… when you post a photograph you’re really proud of, do you keep checking to see how many “likes” you’ve earned?

More “Likes” = “I must be a better photographer”

Would an artist keep doing their art if they only got criticism?  “Your art sucks.” doesn’t usually serve as a good motivator.   In fact, if several people tell you your art is terrible, you probably will be tempted to throw your camera off a cliff, or maybe jump along with it. (But don’t do that.)

I am a big believer that every artist should, to some extent, resist this yearning to be affirmed, and instead pursue their art for themselves.  Do it because YOU love it.  Excel because YOU love what you are doing.  Challenge yourself because YOU want to create even better art.   Maybe don’t even do your art the way others do it.  Be creative. Be different. Be you. You are the WORLD EXPERT on being you! So be good at it!

I think when we tune into that creative force within us, there is something really cool happening.  Now I don’t want to get all “spiritual” on you (and some of you might not agree with me on this anyway) but I think our creative nature is something given to us by God. I see God as a loving force that is in the business of “creating” and we are created in God’s image, so we also are creative beings.  At least that’s the way I see it.  Regardless of how you see it, I think you’d agree that there is something special and unique about us humans… we seem to be built to create art and music.  I love it when I see someone create beautiful art, expressing that creative force within themselves.

The Curse of “Going Pro”

I am a full time pro photographer.   I have to admit, I wonder sometimes why I did this.  I have been in business for myself for almost 20 years, so I am somewhat comfortable with the unpredictable income varying from month to month.  I LOVE working for myself.  Well, for the most part.  Ok, parts of it I hate.

Being  a pro photographer is not as “glamorous” as some people think it is.  I mean I am not always out doing some amazing photography in the mountains of Colorado or photographing a beautiful model.  I am also the janitor.  Yes that is my hand carrying out the garbage from my studio.  That is a better summary of daily life, just doing what needs to be done because it is my job, not just my hobby.  And then there is the book keeping.  Thank God my wife handles that.  I am grateful for that. I hope she never screws up because I can’t fire her.

I think the hardest thing about doing photography professionally, though, is the fact that as soon as you accept money for your service of photography there is an expectation that you will do a good job.  You are no longer in the business of pleasing yourself.  You have to please someone else.

Pleasing someone else is kind of tricky.  It is subjective. You might create a photograph that you think is absolutely fantastic.  The lighting is just absolutely perfect. Then the client says, they don’t like their smile in that shot.  But don’t they see how beautiful the light is??  Check out that bokeh. Isn’t that perfect??  Nope, the smile is all wrong.  Well darn.

The challenge is very real.  You are placing yourself in the position of creating something that you need someone else to love.   In this mission, you are BOUND TO EVENTUALLY FAIL at some point.  And then the temptation is to run over to that cliff with your camera and jump OR you decide you want to be a plumber.  That’s it.  You’ll become a plumber. They are paid pretty well.  And no one can argue with you when you show them you fixed their stopped drain. It’s working now.  That’s not a subjective thing.  It is either fixed or it isn’t.  Yep, I am going to be a plumber.

Or maybe you just had a bad day and you just blew it.  No excuses.  You just didn’t do a good job and you know it.  Again that is BOUND TO HAPPEN SOMETIME.   You want to minimize this stuff from happening, but it happens.  Most photographers won’t necessarily admit this can happen but it does.  Now you are scrambling to see if you can somehow fix the shots in Lightroom or some Herculean effort in Photoshop.

I guess  am just writing this to say, if you hit an “artist’s crisis” like this, don’t give up.  You are not a failure.  Just try to recover and keep moving forward.   You are not the only person this has happened to.

I personally know of photographers who I think are OUTSTANDING photographers who have faced this crisis.

If you need a hug.  Drop by and I’ll give you a hug.

Whatever you do, don’t give up.

I love you artist types.  Keep making art.

Kevin Gourley