The Artist-Photographer

As an artist-photographer, take your play very seriously.

Why do you make photos?

There are many different reasons to make photographs. Some of us shoot photos for memory recollection (family selfies), some of us shoot photos for practical and logistical reasons (photographing receipts or where you parked your car), and some of us make photos for artistic purposes.

We can shoot for all reasons; most of us do all the above. But remember, if you’re an artist-photographer, your purpose on making photos ain’t just to get more likes on the gram, it is to make art!

On taking your play very seriously.

All children are artists. The greatest (adult) artists have created art in the spirit of fun and play.

Yet in modern times, to do something for “fun” or for “play” isn’t considered legitimate in our utilitarian society. As adults, the only legitimate activity is working or earning money.

But as artist-photographers, we must learn to take our play very seriously.

To me, the photos that usually have lasting power and worth are photos shot in the spirit of fun and play. Whenever I tried to make “serious” (‘artsy’) photographs, they don’t last. Because I’m trying to make photos to please the “art world”, not photos to please myself.

You must shoot photos for fun, and you must have fun while shooting your photos. Otherwise photography isn’t worth it.

And taken a step further; no art should be created in a “self-flagellation” or “self-sacrifice” mentality. That is just morbid, and a sign of someone with a distorted and diseased psyche.