Dear friend,
Not everyone is gonna ‘get’ or appreciate your pictures. Why not? Because not everyone has the same vision as you.
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1. We all experience the world differently
As a thought experiment, let’s say someone was deaf. You describe your favorite song to them — no matter how much you try to describe it, you can never truly describe it to them. Why not? They are deaf– they cannot perceive the sonic beauty that you can experience.
This is not meant to disparage deaf people — or those who are hearing-impaired.
My point is this:
We all experience and appreciate art and aesthetics differently.
Some of us have stronger visual acuity and perception. Some of us are trained classically in art school, some of us are not.
Some people are color-blind– they’re not going to appreciate the colors of your pictures the same as you.
Some people who look at your pictures are from different cultures. Of course, they might not understand all the cultural references in your pictures. If your pictures have billboards written in English — someone who cannot read English will not appreciate your pictures as much as you.
2. Let your pictures speak for themselves
Therefore, trying to ‘explain’ your pictures to everyone is futile.
It is impossible to have 100% of your viewers like or appreciate your pictures.
Therefore, my suggestion:
Make pictures that bring YOU joy. And perhaps make pictures for a few people whose opinion matters to you.
Ultimately, you want to make pictures to FIRST please you. Because every good artist is first selfish, and makes pictures to please themselves.
3. Be a genuine artist
The only way to be a bad photographer is to not be genuine to yourself. And the way you can be more genuine as a photographer and visual artist is to impress yourself with your own pictures.
Stay true to your own vision,
ERIC