Just Keep Doing
Creating is hard. Not just in the sense that you have to mentally and then physically develop your thoughts and ideas into a thing - but because it also just takes guts. When you take the time to create something, a photograph, an art print, a cookie recipe, a LEGO car, you are taking your innermost thoughts and desires and sharing them for the world to see. Spoiler alert - the world is not always super kind.
Recently, I had an unfortunate experience with a professional in the photography industry. No names will be given out here, but the interactions with this individual left me feeling defeated. I went into the shoot feeling eager to learn, excited to work with a well established pro working at the top level, and went to bed that night feeling like anything I have ever even tried with a camera was not good enough. To say that it left an impact on me is nothing short of a simplification.
Things did not improve from there, not-longer after, and after three years of avoiding “it” like the near literal plague, Covid finally caught up with me, and took me down for 2 weeks straight. How do I progress from here…
Climbing out of that emotional, mental, and physical low point was not easy, is not easy even now. After it was clear I was physically recovering from Covid, and I could start thinking about other things, I found myself not having that spark, that desire to create, to shoot. The only thing that revitalized that drive was…well…photography.
A backlog of images I had captured but not had the chance to edit before getting sick. Seeing past work brought me out of a space of inadequacy, and self-doubt.
I want to take a pause to acknowledge that this could come across as egotistical. Like, I found my own work so inspiring that I saved myself. Please know that this is not the intent.
Rather, it was seeing the works of those who I had captured, a model’s expressions, poses, emotions, and movements that made me find a drive to create again. Greater still, once that fire had been sparked, I found myself seeking out the works of other photographers and once again wanted to be inspired by them. The will to create should not be stifled for long, lest we forget how to dream and share the human experience.
If I learned anything from this, it is that we must create, and we must continue to create. Keep doing, keep trying, find inspiration from others, try new things. Your art is never wrong (as long as it is legal) and you should never be gate kept from your chosen medium simply because of skill, knowledge, equipment etc.
At the risk of sounding like a 80s sports coach giving the big half-time talk to rally the team - just keep doing. Maybe you will get published, or maybe only your closest friends and 22 followers ever see it, but keep trying anyway. You do not need the world’s approval to create, you do not need “likes” or a blue checkmark, the most important thing you can do, is keep doing.
Create recklessly, pursue what you love boundlessly, and never stop sharing. And please, help others - what is the point of experience and fame if we do not use it to better others. Art has no competition, so let us inspire one-another to pursue art.
Okay, that’s my TED talk for the week. Thanks for coming! I should be back on schedule now that my body no longer feels like twice baked oatmeal.