Why I won’t specialize my photography.

Lomography Turquoise - a look so ugly, only a mother could love it… and me.

If you look-up “how to be successful in photography” or something analogous, you’ll often find something along the lines of “specialize in one genre” or “ensure you have a consistent look in your portfolio”. Often people will ask you what “type” of photographer you are, or “what do you shoot?”, expecting you to provide a genre of specialty like it is a basic requirement for photography. Personally I’ve always struggled to answer that question or find a specialty and I think that’s a good thing… for me. It just comes down to what you want your relationship with photography to be and if you plan on being commercially driven.

Why is it potentially a good idea to follow that advice?

I think that if you are looking to commercialize your photography into a business of shooting for others, this would make a lot of sense. Often people and businesses can be quite risk adverse (despite their entrepreneurial spirit) and when hiring a photographer, clients seem to have a look or photographic idea in mind that they want you to replicate / achieve. Given this, it would make sense to have consistency in your work that could be used as a baseline for them to understand how a photo shoot would turn out and if you are the right person for the job. Your style, genre or “specialization” is the brand you can sell and having a distinct branding is critical to stand out from the competition - or at least that’s the idea.

Why I don’t care to follow it?

Because I have absolutely no interest in doing hired shoots. I never started photography with the hopes of shooting for others. I want to express my own vision and values and only enjoy the process as an art, not a business. That doesn’t mean I’m opposed to using my photography to make money, just that I only want to do it on my own terms with my own images. Vivian Meyer certainly never made a career out of her work and she’s pretty well respected in the photographic world. Despite the common narrative, you don’t need to make money to be a success in photography. That’s only one metric.

Personally I’m a bit cynical towards the forces behind specialization for marketability anyway. I don’t think it is correctly framed. For me it seems more likely that people are pigeon-holed into specializations when they want to be commercial photographers, rather than choosing their path. You learn what sells and that drives the vision, not personal expression. Eventually perhaps you get a reputation that people seek out, however it’ll more likely be in the business aspects - cost, efficiency, reliability etc. over artistic direction. That ain’t for me.

I have done the odd photographic favours over the years (weddings) and completely hated it. It’s stressful, time consuming and your are always stuck trying to understand the “clients” (or Aunt’s) vision. Even when shooting for free, somehow I received a list of photo demands and specific shots to achieve, which is perhaps something to expect, but certainly was not to my benefit or enjoyment. I then spent weeks editing photos that I had little to no personal attachment to but an extreme sense of obligation to complete in a timely manner. It became quickly apparent to me that I would not survive being the so-called professional photographer and keep my sanity.

So when taking such advise to specialize your work, I think the big question to ask is: do you want to shoot for art and expression or do you want to shoot to create a marketable product? Of course these are not 100% mutually exclusive and you can reserve time for both separately. Some people may be lucky enough to be hired for their specific art direction, however I wouldn’t consider this the norm and don’t think it is a realistic expectation.

On the scale of marketability vs artistic expression, I am very much on the art and expression side because of what I want my photography to be for me - personal growth and stress release. There is no reason for me to make something that I use to relax and release from stress in my life into the stressors of my life. Additionally if paying my bills depends on my photographic output, then I don’t see it providing the same value in my life as it does now and I think I’d probably hate doing it. I shoot to be free and to carve out my own space in my world. This is my domain, and I intend to keep it that way.

If I want to shoot landscapes, I’m going to shoot landscapes. If I’m feeling more like embracing the random chaos of the world, maybe it’s a street photography kind of day. If I want to use crappy lenses for character effects, I’m going to. Maybe I’m feeling a bit hipster and want to shoot film. I get to choose. There aren’t too many things in life we get to control. So when you have one, I think that is worth valuing.

Now perhaps some would say I won’t be “honing my craft” with such an undisciplined and scattered approach and I’ll never be truly good at any of the genres because my attention is divided. Maybe, but I’m not sure I buy this. I’ve found things in street shooting that I use for landscape compositions and vise-versa. All photos are shapes, shades/colours and composition. Certain things look good to the eye near universally. Besides I’m having fun exploring different genres and it prevents burnout. It’s hard to beat feeling inspired.

The cost of my philosophy is requiring a day job to pay the bills. Luckily for me, I enjoy mine right now and it provides me lots of time off to do the things in life I want to. Maybe that’s a rare luxury these days, but I’m going to milk it until it no longer works for me. As stated, my photography is my release - a hobby of passion. That doesn’t mean I don’t take it seriously. I do. So much so that I reject the idea of working for other people’s visions and place mine above making money. In my mind that is dedication to the craft. Maybe I’m wrong.

Either way, for me I don’t want to sacrifice freedom of artistic expression, so I will not be specializing my photography so that it can be a benefit to others.

Take it or leave it. What you want is up to you.

Revlog Kosmos - Because being normal is boring.