What makes us drive to seek excellence in our work and artistic journey?
In the world of photography, the pursuit of artistic ambitions is an ever-evolving journey. As photographers, we constantly ask ourselves what drives us, what fuels our desire to create, and how we can push the boundaries of our craft.
Follow our passion?
Passion, often referred to as the driving force behind creativity, has the power to propel us forward, pushing us to strive for excellence in our work. It is the fuel that keeps us engaged, investing countless hours into our craft. It helps us to push through difficult times when we question if what we do really matters. On the other hand, our passion can become an obsession. It can lead us to questioning our work and ourselves: Is this good enough? Am I good enough. Like hunger ghost we are stuck in self-doubt, if we are not aware of this, and it can lead to burnout.
The Power of Curiosity
On our artistic journey, curiosity acts as a guiding light, igniting our desire to explore new perspectives and techniques. Curiosity allows us to experiment, to think outside the box, and to create images that resonate emotionally with our audience.
I am shooting with models for five years now. In these five years I had several moments when I asked myself: Is this still what I want to do? Why bother? Do I have something to say?
Lately I was visiting the retrospective of Daido Moriyama, a Japanese street photographer. I was quite overwhelmed by the exhibition. What fascinated me was that he had his moments of doubt and crisis, but still continued to create images.
So, passion can help us to push through difficult times. But in the end, it is the constant practice that will get us there and makes us grow.
The Relevance of Photography in the Age of Social Media
Daido Moriyama also questioned in I work: What is photography? The rise of social media has transformed the way we consume photography. It has given us a platform to showcase our work and reach a wider audience. But Our desire to be admired let to attention-grabbing images prevents us from creating meaningful connections. I aspire to make pictures that have an emotional impact on the viewer. Meaning make them stop scrolling through the feed and linger a little longer on the image. And that is hard to do.
Stay curious
Each photoshoot should be an opportunity to explore new perspectives. We have to stay curious to constantly seek new ways of expression and challenge ourselves to be fresh and new. While passion drives us to explore our craft it is our curiosity that embarks on a lifelong adventure of self-discovery and artistic development.