In an over sharing world, making photos comes with pressure. It’s important to step away and focus solely on yourself.

During the summer I wrote a piece that questioned if, in the digital age, any of us truly take photos for ourselves. As many photographers build up their social media following, there is an expectation put on them to deliver in a consistent way. For any artist, playing to the beat of your audiences drum can be very demanding and difficult. Every photo walk becomes a means to an end - and passion becomes work. Does it always have to be like that?

Take Photos Without Expectation

I noticed that I had stopped enjoying my photo walks. I would come home with empty SD cards, or at the most, with a few hack shots that meant nothing to me. I noticed I was working with a mind frame of “people won’t like this so I won’t take it”. I was only looking for images that would be popular to followers, rather than important to me. Instead of feeling light and working fluidly, I was tense and anxious when shooting street photography.

This had to change…

Take Photos of What You Like

I went out with the perspective that I would shoot anything and everything I wanted to. I took photos as if I was a tourist on their jolly holiday. If I liked it, I took it - not really worrying about the golden rules of photography.

I felt so free, liberated in my approach to taking photos. Nothing felt important, nothing had to be deep - it was a whole lot of fun! I felt like the young kid who first got a camera and didn’t have a care in the world. The kid who didn’t care about success, public opinion or how many hearts show up in their notifications. I felt like the kid who loved taking photos just for the sake of taking photos…

I know many people reading this will follow this philosophy already. But, I also know there are photographers who are building a brand, and every detail matters. To those photographers, take time just for you - take photos just for you.

Sorry, for the lack of images in this post - they are all for me.

Thanks for reading

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