What do you have to say with your photography?

What does your photography say? I’ve heard that question. I don’t know, I suppose sometimes there is a lot to say, and other times, nothing. I mean, does that work always have to have something to say?

I’m an introvert. This might surprise those who know me and my magnetic, and wonderful, personality. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, admittedly, I’m moody at best, but I am more of an introvert. If I don’t appear that way that is because I’ve simply had to adapt to my world. Notice I said my world?

We all experience the world through the filter of our mind, so in my experience, the world around me is not very patient with introverted people. We’re often misunderstood, and seen as being people who think they are “too good” to be around others, and nonsense like that, where the truth is, we just need to get away from y’all because it is so draining to be around you. It’s not your fault, we are just wired that way.

That brings me back to the “my world” statement. Everything we create speaks, regardless of whether there is an intentional idea one is trying to say. So when I answer that question with “nothing right now” that is not entirely true. Our work as a whole speaks, doesn’t it? I learn so much about someone by looking at the work they create.

There is an argument for starting on pure inspiration without an end result in mind, at least at first. There is a certain exploration that happens. Trey Parks talks about this process because he operates a lot like that with his work. I’ve also seen this happen with my work as well. You begin with an idea or feeling but don’t think about an end goal. Not yet anyway. Allow the work to reveal itself to you. Interestingly, deep down, you will find that you are going in a direction, you are simply not conscious of it just yet.

This exploration can be extremely revealing and downright fascinating. For me, I have also learned to trust myself and my ideas more. That is probably the biggest lesson for me so far with this. If I were to offer any advice to a photographer just starting out I would offer this: Work on a project where you follow your creative impulse and allow it to grow on its own. You will gain so much insight into your own motivations and visual language.

Learning how you speak, and staying true to that, creates more powerful work than when you try to adapt yourself to another’s voice. That is not to say you should never work to match a look that a client might have, it’s just that you will be doing it with your voice. I love dark and moody, but have and will continue to shoot work that is light and airy as well. My light and airy is not going to look like another’s though, and that’s okay. Personally, I embrace those creative challenges. I do not want to confine myself to a specific look, and dislike it when another person labels me and my work as a specific look. I don’t want to be the “dark and moody” guy.

As you explore yourself and how you speak visually, you will see that you will always be saying something with your images, even when you are not consciously trying to say something. I think that’s pretty cool.