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We Live in a Photo Utopia

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Dear friend,

There is no other generation or time to be alive to be a photographer.

Everything is free

We live in a photo utopia.

Consider this — almost everything we do now in photography is free.

Most of us have smartphones, which have “free” cameras embedded in them.

Most of us have access to the internet, which allows us to publish our photos online for free.

There are many photo apps and services that are free to download— that can store our images (Dropbox, Google Photos), that can post-process and edit our photos (VSCO, Snapseed), and ways we can share our photos for free (Facebook, Instagram, etc).

We have access to all this free information to learn photography (Google searches, YouTube, free ebooks, etc).

What else is holding us back in our photography?

Ourselves.

Our own lack of creativity. Our own lack of confidence in ourselves. Our own lack of finding personal significance in our photography.

Nothing is holding you back.

We always think we’re lacking gear. We think we’re lacking opportunity. We think that we’re lacking personal ability.

But in reality, nothing is holding you back.

Remember, the point of life isn’t to become a great photographer. The point of life is to live a great life.

That means that photography is a tool to enhance your personal relationship with the world. For me, I consider the camera as a sociological tool, to better understand society. I see “street photography” as applied sociology— with a camera.

What will we lack in photography in the future?

In the future, where all smartphones will take photos as good as DSLR’s, and when photo storage is free, computing power is free — what will we be lacking?

We will lack compositional and framing skills. We will lack confidence approaching and photographing strangers. We will care too much about the opinions of others on our photos. We will obsess too much over our social media following, likes, and the amounts of comments we get. We will lack the feeling of satisfaction, or gratitude.

What should we focus on in photography?

Consider— what will change in photography, and what will not change in photography in the future?

For me, I think technology in photography will constantly change, and evolve.

But what we need to focus on — making our photography more personal, to build confidence in ourselves, and to care less about what others think about us.

So friend, to empower you, here are some resources which can help you:

1. Improve your composition

  • Composition Lesson #1: Triangles
  • Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground
  • Composition Lesson #3: Diagonals

See all lessons >

2. Conquer your fears in photography

  • How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
  • Shoot What You’re Afraid Of
  • How to Channel Your Fear into Bravery

See all articles >

3. Care less about what others think about your photography

  • The “Personal Photography” Manifesto
  • A Photographer’s Search For Meaning
  • Why Do You Take Photos?

See all articles >

Stay true to yourself,
Eric

Learn more: Photography 101 >

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Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Photography Entrepreneurship

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Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Photography

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STREET NOTES

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HAPTIC MAG

Read our HAPTIC MAGAZINE: Issue 1 “Our Story” >

HAPTIC makes creative tools to empower visual artists. From educational tools, art platforms, to camera equipment, HAPTIC is driven by a spirit of experimentation and creative collaboration. We are a majority women led, family operated industry, and have great pride in everything we make.

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HAPTIC MISSION: We believe in disrupting the production market for photography, art, and creative tools. We are transparent about the labor practices behind HAPTIC because we are proud and love everything we make. We support honest and beautiful work with respectful wages to our artists, artisans, and collaborators.

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