2024 01 24

Scene at a rest stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. November, 2023. © Clayton Hauck

I’m a sucker for perspective. Seeking out insights and ideas in, admittedly, places that tend to be more of a waste of time (ex: youtube videos from other photographers). I spend more time than I should digesting youtube and am often reminding myself that I should be spending the time creating things, be it a youtube video of my own, photography, whatever.

For like ten years now I’ve been telling myself this is the year I’ll start that youtube channel. Maybe this is the year?

One of the people I most look up to in the photo world is allegedly starting a channel, which makes me excited and rekindles my thinking to do it myself. (update: he’s been at it for a few weeks now! will dig more into this later…)

Some things holding me back are: It’s a lot of work! Nobody will watch them! Not sure what to make videos about! Not sure I have a unique angle on anything so why bother! There’s too much content out there already!

But I don’t have a channel so I can only sit on the sidelines and get a bit jealous to see photographers I think I’m just as talented as, if not more so, growing channels to hundreds of thousands or millions of followers.

Today, I got click-baited into watching one of these videos entitled: The Harsh Truths Every Photographer Needs to Hear in 2024 (partially because: what does he know that I don’t know?! partially because: fuck this guy, I know better than him!) and, well, I ended up really enjoying the video and wanted to spend some time digging into his main points from my own perspective. Those thoughts are below, along with a link to the video should you want to view it yourself.

Main points from the video: 

Social media doesn’t need to be your strategy. 

Wow. Such a healthy idea! And how disarming of this “social media” (yes I’m using this term disparagingly, as an asshole, but don’t really mean it) photographer to come out swinging by telling us you don’t even have to use Instagram if it’s something that makes you unhappy.

I struggle with social media immensely and am in a bit of an inflection point in what my relationship with it will be moving forward. Part of why I started this blog was to unshackle myself from Instagram, yet, I’m also using it more than I have in my entire pro career and really focusing on posting high quality work to it, while in years past it was more of an afterthought as to what I’d share.

Video is what people want these days. 

Again, hugely touchy subject for me personally. I’ve been largely ignoring the pleas from my agent for years now, telling me I really need to shoot and share motion work to get new clients. I know this as fact, but haven’t put in the effort to grow a motion reel, mostly because I don’t want to. Video doesn’t excite me as much as stills do (I’m weird?) but I know I need to grow up and get a big boy motion reel online right away. It’s not even going to be hard! My background is in film production and editing. I direct motion jobs fairly regularly. It’s just… I’m being stingy and want success to happen on my own terms, which is sometimes a nice way to go out of business. Planning to dig into this subject more in the coming weeks.

Why are you even doing this photography thing? Have an answer to this. 

I like this question and haven’t really considered it too much over the years. I think what he’s getting at is: are you just doing this to get famous, score chicks (can we still use this term, even jokingly?), grow a social media account, etc, or do you really have a passion for photography? For me, the things I like least about photography-as-a-job are these things that often drive people to become a photogrpaher to begin with, so this is not much of an issue for me — I’d still do this job if I also workred as an accountant, I’ve just been fortunate enough to make a living at it thus far.

How do you self sabotage yourself? 

As mentioned already, I tend to focus more on things I want to photograph and not the trendy video projects that will get me new clients. This point is a big one for me as it touches on an even bigger existential crisis I’m currently participating in which essentially boils down to: am I an Artist Photographer or am I a Tradesperson Photographer?

This is a larger debate we’ll save for another day.

I also self sabotage myself by watching too many youtube videos when I should be working.

Stop fearing failure. 

This is a fun one for me as I think I have gotten worse at this as I’ve grown my career! Early on, I didn’t hold back and had no problem sharing with the world whatever came to me. As this photography thing became an actual job, I definitely began to over-think things or hold back on sharing certain thoughts or works as it might offend someone or scare off a potential new client.

Nobody owes you attention. 

Yeah… I think this point is again more directed towards those seeking social media fame, however, I think it’s a great point to remember and one I believe in my core. I started this blog knowing I’d have maybe one or two visitors a day (update: we’re up to 4-5 per day now! hi mom 🤗) and perhaps still be there after a year of posting, but I like the challenge of figuring it out. What brings people here? What brings people back? Are there certain topics that resonate better with people? We’ll see! Or maybe we won’t! Nobody owes me attention.

Who you are = what you create 

“If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.”

Scrolling social media is mostly procrastination.

Same goes for watching youtube videos. Another sensitive topic for me as I’ve found I have succeeded most in my career when I focus on creating over consuming. The challenging bit for me is keeping a balance, as I can and will get too myopic in my approach — obsessively making and sharing photos nonstop because it’s what I think I need to be doing at all times even when it’s not moving the needle in any way.

Shoutout to Evan Ranft for the video. He’s a smart guy and I’m fascinated by his approach to photography-as-a-job. He approaches making money in ways I wouldn’t have considered myself, mostly because I’m an Old Guy afraid of the internet. Being more of a salesperson is something I’ve shunned and not prioritized through the years, regrettably.