Why no one cares about your photography
And why you should care
If you're a photographer, you've probably felt it at some point: the feeling that no one cares about your work. You spend hours taking photos, editing them, and sharing them online, but you only get a handful of likes and comments. It's enough to make you want to give up altogether.
But don't worry, you're not alone. Many photographers feel the same way every day. And there are a few reasons for that.
I was inspired to write this article after seeing this video from Sean Tucker.
In this video, he puts forward an interesting hypothesis. He posits that most of the photographers who react to photos on social media are beginners. So, sometimes photos that you might consider simple will get loads of attention and photos that are more nuanced might not gather any attention at all. This is not to say your photos are bad. They simply might be too grown up for beginner photographers.
So, just because your photos don't get any likes or comments, it doesn't mean that they are bad! Another photographer, Simon Baxter, who specializes in woodland photography agrees. It is a reflection of your growth as a photographer.
Couple of things that have worked for me lately:
Take photos for you and for no one else:
I have long felt like an imposter and always felt the need for external validation, constantly checking on the likes and follow. Social media is a trap, forcing your work into a pattern. So, I realised, I need to create art that I wanted to do. If folks like it, so be it. If they don’t, it’s fine as well! Eventually, there will be someone who will like it.
Expand your horizons:
Initially, I started off like everyone else, photographing sunrises and sunsets on the beaches of Auckland. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with it! I still do the occasional sunrise or sunset. But I wanted to do more, and get into other genres as well.
Shoot with Intent
Currently, I am on a mission to learn table top photography - everything that I can learn about shooting still life and products. What I find is works, take a simple subject, and experiment with camera angles, light position and intensity, blocking and reflecting light. Essentially tweak everything that is under your control and see how it affects the end result. It has been really interesting to see just small changes can result in transformative changes in the end result.
Photography is a personal journey and more often than not it is a solitary exercise. Sometimes it is very therapeutic just doing the exercise of shooting a couple of tomatoes!
You can only connect the dots in hindsight. Photography has been an unexpected accident in my life and it has give me so much. It was what lead me into podcasting and has opened up so many other opportunities as well.
And that my friends, is why I should care about my photography. :)