There was a time (not so long ago) in my career when I questioned every single thing I did. Did I do it right? Did I do it wrong? Should I have done it differently? Did it look like it was supposed to look? Would Photographer X have done it the same? What about Photographer Y? A million questions would buzz around my brain like bees at a hive, too many to make sense of them all. I was never truly happy with my images because I never truly believed that they were up to par.
Then it hit me. Rather than strive to fit in, shouldn’t I strive to stand out?
I mean, would I ever be truly happy with my images if I was always comparing them to be something I wasn’t? Comparing my work to others was not only unhealthy for my craft, it was unhealthy for my heart. I was playing it safe. Looking at what others around me were doing and trying to fit into a mold. Afraid to be different. I was worried that being true to me, would look false to others. I wanted to blend in, because at least then- I would be in. But I had to make a change because I don’t want to fit into any molds. I want to break out of them.
I made a decision. I embraced what inspired me and stopped looking at what others around me were doing. What they do is theirs- and that’s great. But what I do is mine- and that’s great, too. Photography shouldn’t be like an assembly line. We are creative thinkers. Our portraits are our canvas and they should be painted any way we see fit. Bold or soft. Colorful or black and white. Simple or extravagant. But we get to decide. No one else.
I’m a dreamer. I love raw emotion. I crave authenticity. I’m a hopeless romantic. I love simple beauty. I live out loud- and laugh, too. These pieces of me are what I put into every single image I produce. When I stopped comparing and started to trust in me, my eyes were opened to a whole new world. And I have loved every single second of it! :)
