Insecurity - Am I Valid?
As I have said more than one time in the recent blogs, Jérôme Brunet, who is an award winning and internationally published music photographer, has really gotten me to thinking about the issue of photographer’s insecurity. For Jérôme, there are three relevant questions.
“Can I keep producing?”
“Can I be creative again?”
“Am I valid?”
The last two blogs have explored the first and second question. This week, let’s wrap it up by considering the last question.
Am I valid?
I am not 100% certain what “valid” exactly means for a photographer. Once again, I suspect each of us would have a different interpretation. I do have clearer ideas about the question, “Does my work have value?” For me, if my work has value then I think it is valid.
Let’s start with me telling you about two photographers whose work, in my judgement, does have value. I am specifically not choosing professional photographers. I think these two photographers are like me. They are amateur photographers out taking street photography for the love of it.
Ron Giacone and Chris Schneider, prolifically document their home cities. I think this has value both for now and in the future. I am fortunate to tour NYC through Ron’s lens of knowledge and love for his city. The Coffee Shop, in the picture taken by Ron below, served diner food for 28 years in Union Square. While it never was really known for its food, it was a cultural sensation. I saw this iconic restaurant on Sex and the City, but I will not see it when I visit NYC because it closed in October of 2018.
Photo by Ron Giacone. Used with permission. You can see Ron’s Instagram gallery at @nycdigital.
Chris took me through many parts of LA, including sometimes the mean streets. In the picture posted below, Chris commented, “ Not that unusual phenomenon [the sunscreen] in Los Angeles. Women drive cars, ride bikes and shop with these sunscreens, except this day there is no sun and [it] was about to rain. Maybe there is a simple reason to wear these shields, but I don’t know what it would be. She was yelling at me, as if anyone would know it’s her! She took it off when she got in her Uber.” I had no idea about these sunscreens. I can remember thinking, “only in California”.”
Photo by Chris Schneider. Used with permission. You can see Chris’ Instagram gallery at @krys_Zyndar.
Chris is now introducing me to Bilbao. I only wish he had been there for a while before I visited.
Photo by Chris Schneider. Used with permission. “Algorta”
The galleries of Ron and Chris are puzzle pieces for me to build a nuanced understanding for their parts of the world. In terms of the future, Ron’s documentation of the little retail shops in NYC, particularly ones that have closed after years of operation, may one day be a historical treasure.
Which brings me back to the question, “Am I valid.” I cannot say “yes” to that yet, but being the problem solving mathematician that I am, I at least have a plan or maybe a goal. My interest in this world is to show commonality, even as we differ in our cultures. I look for universal expressions and similar behaviors. I try to show the joy and humor across cultures. I want to photographically beat back the concept of “Other” that is so often a part of our culture in the U.S.
The question, “Are my pictures good enough?,” is the subtext to all of the other questions in the blogs on photographer’s insecurity. I would like to address that issue in this final blog with a series of one liners.
Break down why you feel your photos are inferior.
Focus on what you can do to improve your work.
Take time and tackle the problems one by one.
Joy will defeat doubt.
Embrace the compliments.
Find friends.
The last, find friends, is the greatest of these. A friend I have found on Instagram is a professional photographer, Nigel Downes. Aside from his truly spectacular work, he is a photographer who gives back through his teaching and support. This is one of his photographs. It was the picture I was thinking about when I wrote in last week’s blog, “Can I ever create anything as good as the photographer who took this incredible picture that I am looking at on Instagram or Facebook?”
Photo by Nigel Downes. Used with permission.
Here is my story of friendship. I posted the picture below some time ago on Instagram.
Nigel had taken the time to look through my posts and then commented that he thought this picture was,”Fantastic.” It kind of made my heart flutter. Now you may remember this picture from one of the first blogs I wrote, Are You Ready for Critique?. In an anonymous critique forum someone had said about it, “Ditch this picture, it is a banal, naive shot.” That made my heart flutter, too, in a different way. I told Nigel about that, and here was part of his response, “Hi Diane. Don't listen to negative critique in a harsh tone. Critique should be well balanced and never negative. I loved the Muslim lady with the umbrella.” My friend’s words of support help me believe my pictures have the potential to have value.
You can see Nigel’s work in Instagram at @nigel_downes and on Facebook at Nigel Downes Storyteller. Both of these are teaching galleries. He also has a website nigeldownes.com.
Exercise
Do you have a deep interest or goal in photography that helps you see that your work is valid or at least has value?