When I talk to creators and survey the industry landscape, I see a zillion creators trying to have all their work liked by all the people. This comes from our social animal DNA, but it’s the completely wrong approach to success – whether that be measured by your work being licensed, sold, etc, or by getting hired, shown, talked about, displayed, whatever.
Simply said, by trying to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one, especially not yourself.
But fear not (or fear less, perhaps). The answer is simple.
1. Shoot what you love.
2. Relentlessly share that work.
3. Repeat.
People can smell whether you love what you’re shooting or not, love what you’re promoting or not, love what you’re doing or not. So you might as well effing love it for real. It’s all you’ve got.
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So quit with your shifty eyes, looking at what everybody else is doing. And do your own shiznit. Yes this means you. If your work is priced…… appropriately, be it fine art, commercial, editorial, wedding, whatever, all you need is 10-50 people each year to dig what you make. That’ll come from doing what you love, and that will make for a great year. Of all the damn people you have access to with the innernets, there are 50 people with money who like what you do. Of the 1000 or 10,000,000 who look at your site, your book, your whatever, those “likers” can be a pretty low percentage. Bet on it.
Well said Chase!
I think doing the type of work you like to do, in the long run, is the only real viable option. Otherwise, you’ll go insane.
I totally agree with this.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t a universally agreed upon standard of work. If you absolutely love indistinguishable images covered in fuchsia papyrus lettering then there’s a problem and you need to improve your taste. Excellent photography comes out of a pursuit of personal standard. If you are completely satisfied with your end product then you’ve reached creative stagnation.
For me the love is in the growth of my ability to closer produce what is in my head. That creative gap between what I want to produce and what I do produce, though, is the driving force for my own creativity. I’m trying to get ME to like my work. That’s my pursuit; that’s my bar.
I think it was first Bill Cosby, some 40odd years ago who said: “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone.” It still rings true today.