The Trap Every New Photographer Gets Caught In

Look at the work of several of the best photographers online these days. Their work is well-known and seen in various publications, ads, and platforms. They’ve built careers that have rallied and inspired many people. Indeed, they’ve created work that takes our breath away. Believe it or not, all of that success isn’t really due to social media. Instead, it’s due to the people skills and networking that those photographers do to form the connections and bonds that build trust. That’s the trap that so many photographers get caught in — and they don’t realize that they’re wasting their time.

The Social Media Suck

We’ve all felt it before creating content for social media is a whole lot of pressure equivalent to feeding a mouth that can’t be satisfied. It’s like having a child when you didn’t ask to have one, and that doesn’t reward you with the things you really need in life. But after a few years, a child can be self-sufficient. No social media platform is going to create content for you on your behalf. Instead, it’s going to suck you dry through the straw of algorithms. You can feed it art, but it won’t matter. Instead, it demands content from you that it likes.

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t sign up to have a child that’s this ungrateful. And if I knew I’d have one, I would’ve gotten a vasectomy years ago or asked my partner to have an abortion instead.

You’re chasing an algorithm. The consequences of chasing an algorithm will follow like the cart follows the ox that pulls it. In this case, you’re the ox pulling the burden of the algorithm — and that burden is eventually going to wear you away until you’re replaced and put out to pasture.

Get Your Creativity Back

To get your creativity back, stop trying to feed the algorithms. Instead, you should put that investment back into yourself. Your creative mind needs rest and a vacation. To quote from the book Mindfulness in Plain English, “Have you ever noticed that when you take a vacation, you come back with fresh ideas, a better attitude, and establish clear priorities? This is due to getting some valuable time to relax and reflect on your life. The time off allows you to think clearly and work through the chatter in your mind.”

You need actual time off and away from the platforms that you’re making art for.

Notice how I’m saying, “making art.” You shouldn’t solely focus on making content. You should focus on making art that stands the test of time and then making content to promote that art. One of my favorite photographers who has been doing this recently is Jaina Cipriano, who we featured recently. She’s published and hired for her creativity. But she also uses social media to promote the art she makes. Her priority isn’t making art for Instagram or feeding into hashtags. Instead, it’s all about prioritizing herself first.

Prioritizing herself can look like different things. Sometimes it might be reading, watching movies, going to therapy, making props, etc. This is combined with a lot of people-work — making interpersonal connections directly and shutting down all the notifications and apps bombarding us for attention.

The Truth

Hoping that the algorithms will work for you or that you’ll satisfy them is like waiting for the ocean to become calm so that you can take a bath.

Make your art for yourself first and form the base of your foundation. When that’s taken care of, you can satisfy others. Work on satisfying humans before you satisfy algorithms.