My Struggle to Share

I have been taking photos for years of things that caught my eye, so not with a certain vision or style. This year, however, my direction has shifted a bit. I started to take photos more intentionally and that intentionality now extends to how I want to share and present my work.

I have of course used social media platforms (mostly Instagram and Reddit) to share my photos at times. I would put some effort into posting for a while then give up on the whole thing.

These photography platforms often feel anti-photography or rather anti art! Low resolution photos due to downscaling. Weird grid dimensions and the gymnastics you have to play to make your photos fit. Feeds crafted to steal your attention away without showing the things you are looking for. Rampant censorship . Or communities filled with unsolicited advice mostly based on assumptions and judgement on what you should or should not do, where everybody is an expert giving novice advice (I’m looking at you, Reddit!).

The feed on these platforms is like food delivery, except that food is randomly delivered at any moment, you have to eat what you get and you have no idea what you’re eating.

Worst of all, these platforms optimize for everything except art: valuing quantity over quality, incentivizing presence over authenticity, and promoting conformity over creativity. My photography process tends to be quieter and slower. I have been learning to let my photos settle before judging or making anything out of them. I simply cannot keep posting for the sake of feeding the algorithm to garner more internet points.

I personally follow other photographers through their own websites. I subscribe to their blog via RSS (if it exists) or via their newsletter. I have a note on my desktop of photographers whose work I admire and learn from and where I can reach them. This has worked better for me than getting sucked into an irrelevant feed with no end.

So I decided to build my own space as well. A quiet corner of the web where I can post and present my work when and how I want.

Thanks for reading!