The joy vs. the art
Answer this question honestly. No, wait, really, I mean with absolute honesty.
Imagine that you are 20 years older, looking through your photography archive. You find pictures you shot on the street, some great portraits, some really cool scenes with high-contrast or beautiful colours. And suddenly, you find pictures of your son, or father, or the first family vacation, or your biggest experience you had. Which would you choose as your favourite: the artsy one, or the one with something or someone important to you?
The impossible question
The question itself is somewhat of a catch. Because many times it is impossible to choose. One relates to your family. The other, well, might relate to some extraordinary experience in your life.
But what if you shot your artsy picture because you knew the social media algorithm would like it, but you don't have any great experience connected to it? Now it is easy, right? You'd choose the picture that makes you remember or relive that experience.
What matters in the long run
One famous quote from Phil Penman stuck with me:
"The experience of taking the images is more important than the image itself."
And this is the whole point. You'd choose that family picture because of your love and experience with them. You'd choose an artsy picture because you remember how much time you tried to capture it, and crouched until your leg hurt, and you screwed up the exposure at first, but after half an hour the perfect shot was born out of your passion.
Photography was never meant to be like chasing an algorithm-pleasing exercise, but social media made us believe that it is. I'm as guilty of this as anyone else, but now I'm consciously trying to remember and force myself to forget the outcome, and enjoy photography. Remember the original urge that you felt when you bought your camera. The joy of being out and trying to capture your vision.
All the photographs you see here performed terribly on social media, but I love them. I could tell the story of how I managed to capture them. I know social media is important for photographers. But we might be able to keep a healthy balance.
