Finding your Inspiration
When I started to shift gears with my photography, from restaurant, food, and real estate photography to photographing models, I found myself in a bit of a bind. Some of the most popular photos on social media are pictures of pretty people with blurry backgrounds, and so naturally, that’s what I tried to emulate.
At this point I equated likes and followers on Instagram to success but didn’t fully understand the definition of it. After not so long I realized a few things, first – My photography wasn’t standing out. I wasn’t any better at taking the same bokeh’d out photo with an attractive model and an indistinguishable background than any of the other photographers with an already established following, who had a slew of Instagram models wanting to photograph with them. Second, I felt confined. I was copying photographers, copying other photographers, who were copying other photographers, and frankly, I couldn’t answer for this specific genre of photography – why do I take pictures?
One day I was looking through some of the poetry and short stories that I’ve written, and it dawned on me that I could potentially get the same message across in a different medium – photography, so I gave it a try and translated one of my poems into a photo series. Not only did I attempt to take photos that I felt had substance, but I also felt accomplished because I felt like a broke through the barrier I was faced with. Simultaneously, my photography was evolving into something that aligned closer with what brands are looking for – the ability to send a message through a photo, or series of photos.
It wasn’t long after, that I began analyzing some of my favorite writers, artists, movies, and tv shows to try and find ways to tell a similar message with my camera. Consuming these forms of art in a different light gave me a new source of inspiration, and a way to use different mediums to tell a story with photography, but most importantly, it gave my photography a purpose.