[ad_1]
The other day, I read an article declaring that someone had passed away. It started by saying, “We regret to say that…” So, I’m not starting this article saying that. Instead, I’ll say something more important: It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of a great photographer. A body of work was discovered that wasn’t given the attention it deserved because of a culture that values gamification of content over art. Like Vivian Maier, the work of this photographer is important yet remained undiscovered for many years. The photographer we’re speaking about is someone that you most likely know.
It’s you. Photographers these days pigeon hole themselves to the idea of being content creators and being the slaves to an algorithm and social media platforms that don’t value them at all. The conversations around the work and how they can improve sound like toxic articles in a women’s magazine discussing how they should keep their male partner satisfied.
Maybe if you post this many times a day, the algorithm will be faithful to you.
Maybe if you post all the things that are trending right now and take part of that trend, your followers will pay more attention to you.
Maybe if you change yourself, you’ll change their mind.
Maybe if you try harder, your followers will make more of an effort to follow and interact with you.
The truth is you can’t keep pleasing an algorithm that doesn’t deserve to keep you. And truly, no algorithm in the world deserves your creativity.
I’m talking about you as a photographer making art and not content. Good art is like a good book. You can look at good art over and over, yet it will never lose its intrigue. The more attention you pay to it, the more little details you might find or things you might discover. Content, in contrast, lives and dies very quickly because of its fleeting nature.
The key here is that we, as photographers, must think about social media differently. It should be a platform for us to use as marketing, not the place where we show off our portfolio. We need a dedicated website that algorithms won’t control and that we can have a more creative say over when laying it out.
So what do you do if you’re not going to rely on social media for marketing? Here’s a list:
Make an email newsletter: update it maybe twice a month and show people what you’ve been up to
Stay creative for yourself first
Stop getting inspiration from social media and start reading books or watching movies.
Look at the work of the photographers who have come before you.
Set up actual call times and be personable instead of getting caught up in the swarm of text-based conversations.
Meet with people.
Work on yourself and your people skills.
Learn how to speak to people again and stop making conversations all about yourself.
Stop using sentences and saying “I” this or “I” that, as they can have much more impact. I love that for you is nice but that sounds like a love story come true for you hits so much differently.
Most importantly though, take time to rest. When you take a rest and recharge, you come back with ideas and thoughts that you would’ve never dreamed of before.
[ad_2]
