Vision and talent are often prized in creative circles as vehicles for a career in photography. Work on your craft and the job will come. This is true to an extent, but it’s also a bit trashy.
Talent and cultivating a particular perspective as a creative person are things a photographer should ultimately strive for. Depending on the type of work you’re looking to create, your unique perspective and voice expressed through your portfolio or curated work content can mean the difference between landing a job do or not.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to have a particular vision or work hard to get a portfolio you’re happy with. This is exactly what I am saying. Work hard to make your portfolio the best it can be.
Out of here. Read the book. Watch a show or two. Contemplate. And then, make some good photos.
However, the misconception is that having a good portfolio is all it takes to be a working photographer. Not so. Talent is not enough. If you are talented, there are at least a hundred other equally talented photographers with equally unique perspectives who are just as deserving as you and as hungry as you are to create work. Talent alone is not enough.
So, what is the magic formula? How do you become successful as a photographer?
The problem is, there’s no such thing as a get-rich-quick scheme that goes deep. It’s work. And it generates images. Pick up the camera and create the images you want. And then keep doing it every day, over and over. One day you might get lucky and the right person can see it, and then it’s a bit of a snowball effect.
But until then, you just need to care and exploit your creative space and just create images. Enter your studio or hit the road and keep plugging in it.
This article is starting to be murky and unattractive. What is score? It’s not an exaggeration to say that you shouldn’t become a professional photographer or follow your passion, but rather that the creative industry is a tough business. Not everyone has the same opportunity. Want to do the image need to do your core. You have to want to do this, want to do this to the point where you are willing to make sacrifices for your craft. And if you can really say it, knowing that there are days when you can be very uncomfortable as a person because you have sacrificed so much to be an artist, then just keep trying and keep going. keep creating everything. This is not to say that you should intentionally make yourself uncomfortable, but rather that this is not the easiest career path. Whether you’re into the commercial or artistically inclined, photography is fiercely competitive with fewer opportunities and less money. You have to be in there for the picture.
The rest will hopefully fall into place.
