I feel we should focus on being ‘good’ photographers—not to just get a lot of social media followers.

1. Don’t be distracted by social media

I got inspiration for this post based on the idea that ‘All men inquire whether they will be rich; no man inquires whether they should be good’ (from Publilius Syrus).

Similarly in our photography, we don’t seek to become good photographers, or to make better photos. We often over-obsess on how we can get more likes, followers, and fame.

2. How do you judge your self-worth as a photographer?

I know for myself, I started off a lot more innocently in my photography. I started to take photos just for fun. I didn’t really share my photos that much, besides with a few friends and maybe my mom. But when I started my first photo blog, I wanted to get more people to see my work, to comment on my work, and to get more page views. I did the foolish thing of commenting on other photo blogs, only to hope they would ‘comment back.’ This is what I also did when I started off in Twitter— I followed a lot of people and tweeted them, hoping they would ‘follow me back’ and I would get more followers.

But the truth is, no matter how many followers you have, you will never be satisfied. Even with myself — I am grateful for how many people follow me, but at times, I feel a slight pang of envy for other photographers who have more followers than myself, even though I might think I am a ‘better’ photographer. And the truth is, I know I’m not the best photographer. I know there are millions of photographers who are far more skilled than I am, who (unfortunately) have fewer followers than myself.

The number of followers you have on social media doesn’t dictate how good you are as a photographer. Rather, it dictates how many followers you have. That is all.

Some of us get more followers by luck, by chance, or by knowing the right people. For example, if you started Instagram in the early days, and was a ‘recommended person’ — you would automatically have a lot more followers. Or if you know a friend who is famous on Instagram and they tell their friends to follow you, you will automatically get more followers.

But the number of followers or likes you have doesn’t dictate how good your photos are, or how good of a photographer you are.

3. Do you like your own photos?

My practical suggestion: if you find yourself being too caught up in the social media ‘rat race’ of getting more likes and followers, take a break from social media. Uninstall those distracting social media apps from your phone, and take a break. Start taking photos for yourself, and don’t upload or share them online. Print them out, and share them with a few close friends and colleagues. I know when I did this myself, I found more personal meaning in my photography.

The best story I have is when I made my friend Satoki Nagata, a photographer whose work I admire. I showed him a photo I was unsure whether it was good or not and I asked him: “What do you think about this photo?” He then paused, smiled, looked at me and asked, “What do you think of the photo?” I paused, dumbstruck. I then said, “Hmmm — I guess it is okay. But I’m not that crazy about it.” He then turned towards me and said, “Then why do you care what I think?”

4. Would you ‘like’ your own photos (if you saw them on someone else’s feed)?

Ultimately the thing I want to share with you is this — to be a good photographer is to listen to your own conscience. You are only a ‘good’ photographer if you look at your photos and you think they are good photos.

To be a good photographer is to be your own best self-critic. To critique your own photos; and strive to make better images. That means disconnecting yourself from your photos. To remove your ego when judging your own photos. Imagine like you’re judging your images as if they belonged to someone else. Or if you saw your photo on someone else’s feed— would you ‘like’ it?

Always,
Eric

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