While it can sometimes feel like there aren’t any interesting things to photograph, the real problem is usually the opposite – most of us are continuously overwhelmed by sights, sounds and information.
Even discounting simple distractions (as James Williams describes in Stand out of our light, there is now more information available than we could ever possibly consume, so our attention is now the scarce resource to be commodified), practically all of the greatest artistic works ever made are available to us on demand, at all times.
Looking at work we admire can move and excite us, but it can also be daunting.
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| Early Sunday Morning, 1930. Edward Hopper |
Likewise, being online can make it appear as if everyone else is constantly making new work, being commissioned, being published, winning awards, and so on. It can feel as if everything has already been done – as if there are no more new subjects, themes or places to photograph.
We may know the reality is different, but it doesn’t feel that way.
Everything everywhere all at once
In one sense, it is true that almost everything has already been done.
A 2017 report predicted that by 2022 there would be 45 billion cameras in the world.
At least 95 billion images are reportedly uploaded to Instagram every day.
As of May last year, Google Street View contained more than “220 billion Street View images from over 100 countries and territories”.
Even the cosmic microwave background – "the oldest light in our universe" – has been captured in what Nasa quaintly calls a “snapshot”.
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| The cosmic microwave background. ESA/Planck Collaboration |
Fortunately, it doesn’t matter. A photograph represents a slice of time. Return to the same subject a moment later and you’ll make a different photograph.
If you’re interested in something, don’t fret over whether it has already been photographed. It almost certainly has, but you can still make something new of it.
Don’t be afraid to step into the light
Though we look to our heroes for inspiration, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking whatever you do needs to live up to impossible standards. We can end up doing nothing to avoid failure.
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| Rebecca, 2005 (Niagara). Alec Soth |
Rather than attempting to make our own magnum opus every time we pick up a camera, though, it usually pays to start with smaller ambitions.
For working photographers, starting small can take the form of assignments. Go here, photograph this subject or theme, get it done within a short time frame.
There’s no need for someone else to give you an assignment, though – you can give yourself one. Pick a subject or theme, give yourself a brief and get it done.
What happens along the way might lead to something bigger. Or it might not, and you can try something else when you’re done. Whether any single idea amounts to much isn’t the point – the point is to get yourself out into the world, to see things and to make pictures.
What happens along the way might lead to something bigger. Or it might not, and you can try something else when you’re done. Whether any single idea amounts to much isn’t the point – the point is to get yourself out into the world, to see things and to make pictures.
When it comes to photography (and likely anything else), picking the ‘right’ subject is much less important than picking something and making a start.
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| GKT convenience store, Bath. Simon von Bromley |
I’ll admit I’ve not followed this advice as often as I should have. I write down a lot of ideas and don’t take enough photographs. As always, knowing what to do is one thing and doing it is another.
Before the pandemic I was working on a big project involving road trips across Britain, and while I'd love to pick that back up again my job and family make that impractical now.
Instead, I’m trying to pick up a small project – maybe it will lead somewhere.
