Creative lesson 41 - It is good to be ignored
11 October, 2020
I had an awesome time with this week's challenge. The theme was "Shoot through" - either shooting through some type of material or doing a 'frame within a frame' photo.
My daughter and I explored a building site during the golden hour for this photoshoot. I photographed empty windows and doors and an oddly large number of cement pipes.
Even though I know that my photo for this week is not that wow-looking, I am still quite happy with it. I had a lot of fun clambering around the site, hanging out with my daughter and marveling at the play of light and shadow. I even learned how to create an HDR photo manually.
Sometimes it is not really about the photo.
I know that my photo is not going to get a lot of likes and comments on the 52Frames site. This is totally understandable because there are just SO many photographers that do send in amazing photos with a sky-high level of wow-factor.
What I do not know though is why so many of the photographers participating in the 52Frames think that their photos do deserve some type of recognition.
The weekly albums are huge, with sometimes up to 2000 photos per album. So every week, 52 photos are chosen to represent the current challenge. This is basically just a smaller album highlighting the various interpretations of the current challenge. Since it is not necessarily the best 52 photos and merely a representation, this smaller album is called the 52picks album.
Most of us, even though we did take an amazing photo that week, will not have our photos show up in this smaller album. And this totally freaks out some of the photographers.
Their photo may not be selected for various reasons.
- It can be too far down in the file - it is not that easy looking through 2000 photos every week and photos often get overlooked.
- Their photo is not technically very good - skew horizons, out of focus etc.
- Their photo is good but it does not have any wow-factor
- The people selecting the 52 picks photos have different taste
- There are too many other photos better than yours.
- It is much more logical to presume that your photo will not appear in the 52 picks album.
So why do some of the Framers get upset that they do not get selected?
One of the best things to learn in life is that you are not that special. There will always be someone, or something better and stronger than you. Your ego, even though it can be very useful at times, will only trip you up in your creative endeavours.
Nobody owes you anything.
Have you ever noticed how laid-back professional surfers are? They have learned a million times that the ocean will and can beat their asses. No matter HOW good they get or how famous they are, the ocean bascially gives a fuck about them.
So this is my creative lesson for this week, don't expect recognition for your work. Even though you took an amazing photo, there is always someone else who took a better photo.
It is more important to enjoy the ride.
And if/when you finally get some praise for your hard work, remember that it is short-lived. Enjoy the ride but remember that it won’t last.
Then you just have to take another photo, write another story or catch another wave.
🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊
I belong to this photo group called 52Frames where we have to take a photo and upload it every week. (It is 100% free to join but take note that the deadlines are strict.) Plodding along every week getting my weekly photo has taught me a lot about creativity.
My other creative endeavors are writing words, writing code and messing around with drawings and fiber art.
Here are a few of my other lessons about creativity:
My creative lesson 38 — One thing can change everything
