I subscribed to his channel a while ago and look forward to his videos as they make me think and sometimes take me by surprise, making me question my beliefs in some things. In his most recent video on the subject of change, Sean suggests that “your photography needs to change”. He discusses the technique of building a “toolbox” of abilities that contribute to making you a more accomplished photographer and why doing the same things all the time can induce stagnation. He points out that if we do not embrace change in our photography then we could be missing out on countless opportunities for great shots. Change can be scary, because if we do embrace change then we have to be prepared to embrace disappointment too. People who have become acquainted with your style of photography may say things like, “I prefer your other stuff” and that can be disheartening. You may be starting on a new journey with your change process so its is important to be committed to it and resist the temptation to slip back into your comfort zone.
So why did this talk resonate with me and make me think? Well I have recently been finding myself looking at people’s pictures and asking “Why bother taking that?”. Now that may sound like a very negative comment but its just the way I feel when I look at some photographer’s work. What I have to accept is that some people will be asking the same thing when looking at my work. For example lets consider a photo of a tree in a field. Nothing spectacular, but someone saw something that appealed to them and felt the need to photograph it and put it online or enter it in a competition etc. I would walk on by and not take the shot because I am a street photographer, right? How can it be interesting, most fields have trees in them?
What I haven’t considered in this scenario is that whether I would be competent enough in photography to take a shot of the tree as good as the one I am looking at. Different genres of photography require different approaches and skills, even sometimes different equipment. This is what I think Sean is getting at in his video on change. Don’t exist in just in one genre, test yourself across the board and expand your skill set. This is sound advice and to some extent that is where my photography was a number of years ago.
But I have a bit of a conflict in my mind when it comes to what sort of photographer I am and whether change for the sake of it would be a good thing. I have mentioned in previous blogs that I decided a number of years ago to concentrate on street/documentary photography and built my equipment inventory around that genre. I don’t really want to spend time in a studio (although I have all the kit), taking still life or hiking up mountains to get super landscape shots. I would like to think I can turn my hand to these scenarios if I wanted to but time is precious and I am not getting any younger. Maybe I will take more landscape shots when I am out and about, or get my studio kit out, but I will not be hanging up my street photography badge and embracing change just because we should. I think therefore that although I agree with what Sean says on embracing change and disappointment (especially for younger photographers ), I am happy in my world at the moment. What I will do though is try and appreciate more why people have taken particular shots that are out of my comfort zone and assess whether I could have equalled their effort. I think however I will still be asking “why?”.
