Believe it or not, I’ve been a freelance photographer for six years. Looking back on it, I struggled to make it, actually learning the meaning of the term starving artist. I wish I had received this advice years ago.
In photography, I have this saying: “if it pays, it stays.” What I mean is that I will take any paid job to keep my dream alive. Those jobs could be real estate, insurance claims, race photography, or any mindless, non-creative paying gig. Most of the time, they were thoughtless opportunities where my passion wasn’t ignited.
That’s great in the short term, because who doesn’t love paying bills? It leads to a lot of distraction from what one is passionate about. In the end, it leads to a never-ending loop of non-enthusiastic photography jobs that people are afraid to do.
This is what happened to We eat together. He was involved in many genres of photography but never really found his footing. Until one day, he discovered passions outside of photography. In return, he uses his camera as a tool to express his passion. That way, he broke out of the loop of performing in a lack of passion and gained traction in his photography career.
Photography is a difficult career choice because people have become one with their phones. The way to overcome the noise is to combine passion, creativity, and focus. Perhaps you can save yourself a decade and a sense of failure by becoming one of the best photographers in your field of passion.
