Doing Or Being from Photography

This is, for the artistically trained eye, only the beginning of the journey.
The main thing is the beginning, the act of opening the eyes.

Hermann Hesse

Want to start a photography project but don’t know where to start?
Would you like to build and develop your photography project authentically?

Many people spend their lives not doing what they truly wish, believing they must follow what they are expected to do rather than what they truly want, as Joseph Campbell, the renowned thinker and mythologist, once said. Seen this way, where can we find authenticity in all these “musts”? If we understand authenticity as being true to ourselves and presenting ourselves as we are, then it becomes essential to discover what brings joy to the soul and heart and to live in alignment with that. Only in this way, as photographers, will we come to know our photographic identity.

Martine Franck

Translating this idea into the realm of photography, you can focus on creating images that showcase technical expertise and mastery of light. Photo editors will allow you to create amazing and striking photographs that receive high praise on social media. This may align with the expectations of being a photography enthusiast seeking social-visual success. It may also align with achieving true success, which you carry within and that will allow you to enjoy life and grow.

Discovering your identity is a journey that everyone should undertake as part of their own path, recognizing that it is accessible to all. The secret is to delve into your own depth. As Campbell explains, this can only be achieved through an intuitive process. It is about learning to recognize what resonates with us and trusting that our energy will guide us along the path we want to follow. Only then will our images truly reflect who we are, everything will fall into place, and doors we never knew existed will begin to open. The secret is simple: pay attention.

Martin Parr

The world we live in is fast paced, a world of compulsive and urgent productivity that often distances us from the simple things that give us joy. We blame work, time, unchosen responsibilities, lack of technique, or the type of camera for our dissatisfaction. But this is only a symptom that something deeper is missing: doing rather than being.

The compulsion to take the best photograph, defined as the most technically perfect, only leads to greater dissatisfaction. Paradoxically, this dissatisfaction drives a constant need to invest more money in improving our equipment.

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Aini Tolonen

Hanami (花見, literally “flower viewing”) is the Japanese tradition of appreciating the beauty of flowers, particularly the contemplation of cherry blossoms. It is a moment to reconnect with pause and calm, often diminished by the whirlwind of life; a way to listen to intuition, to notice what I like and dislike about what I see, and to engage with self-reflection and internal conversations.

I suggest an exercise:  Engage in photographic Hanami. What if instead of betting on the best photography equipment and investing thousands of euros in it, you decided to observe a single image that captures you intuitively and explore it for about three days – or three hours, however long you need – writing down on paper the characteristics that hold your gaze? Words such as balance, light, water, blue, or nature could arise, but also night, fall, darkness, mystery… Do it. Do not miss the opportunity to learn something about yourself.

You will begin to realize that you have a selective eye for images, noticing what resonates with you and feeling excited based on your experiences, needs, or dreams. That is why not everyone sees the same thing when looking at the same image, and what captures our attention changes throughout our lives. The response to an image and photographic expression varies from person to person.

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Bruce Davidson

Photography techniques have evolved significantly; today, nearly everyone has a camera or mobile device capable of capturing stunning images. Technique can be learned, and you can do so at many places. However, the really interesting thing is to learn to have better ideas, ideas that change the world or that change you, ideas that make us vibrate in front of a camera. Both in photography and the entire artistic culture, ideas are of great importance. It is difficult to mask a bad idea with good technique. Technically beautiful photography may be remembered for a while, but photography that conveys an idea that resonates with us will never be forgotten.

In his 1905 essay “On Little Joys“, the Nobel Prize in Literature Hermann Hesse makes this wonderful recommendation:

Just try it once — a tree, or at least a considerable section of sky, is to be seen anywhere. It does not even have to be blue sky; in some way or another, the light of the sun always makes itself felt. Accustom yourself every morning to look for a moment at the sky, and suddenly you will be aware of the air around you, the scent of morning freshness that is bestowed on you between sleep and labor. You will find every day that the gable of every house has its own particular look, its own special lighting. Pay it some heed if you will have for the rest of the day a remnant of satisfaction and a touch of coexistence with nature. Gradually and without effort the eye trains itself to transmit many small delights, to contemplate nature and the city streets, to appreciate the inexhaustible fun of daily life. From there on to the fully trained artistic eye is the smaller half of the journey; the principal thing is the beginning, the opening of the eyes.

Sophie Calle

By bringing contemplation and reflection into photography, consider whether, as a photographer, you are focused on finding your photographic identity and discovering why you represent the world through images and how to do so authentically. To achieve this, you will need to explore your creative process and reflect on the intellectual and emotional steps you take to construct your images. To achieve this, I ⁠have proposed an exercise called the photographic Hanami. This exercise encourages you to explore why you gravitate toward one type of photography over another, to understand your preferences, and to become aware of the decisions you make about your images—decisions often unknown to you but closely linked to how you perceive the world, life, your needs, and your dreams.

Becoming aware and gaining knowledge of your own creative process will allow you to increase creativity, be freer, and do authentic work. Engage in an honest and intimate conversation with yourself to understand the reasons behind your desire to represent the world through photography, that one style of photography and not others. That will be your task. Later, you will need to find ways to nurture your own inspiration, but that is a whole other story…

Read on, How to create your first photo project.