Hate your work, but not in a way that makes you drop it. No, hate it in a way that makes you want to change it more than anything but love it enough to actually change it. Take it as a mission, a road that you have to walk and be as critical as you can be. When there’s an element that you’re not satisfied with, change it, don’t be afraid to stay at the same spot, waiting for the perfect shot for 10, 20 or even 30 minutes.
Everyone who has ever taken some time to practice a certain craft or form of art has had the moment when they go back to look at their first efforts and have been disgusted by it. I’ve had this happen to me multiple times and every time I ended up asking myself how did I ever think that was any good? Well, I didn’t know I could do better…
A photographer’s path goes through many stages. Usually starting with sunset photography, going through macro and then trying out multiple genres with different gear, sometimes on film but what we all have in common is, we all believe we got better. What drove us to get better, though? We thought what we are currently doing is not good enough, we didn’t like it enough to be able to say that it’s our best effort. That’s why we kept pushing.
Most musicians go through the same process. At first they start off with simple riffs, then when they think they’re making any progress they realized what they do is just meh. At that moment, the real work begins…
Any creative work must be hated enough to spark a desire to improve and loved enough to actually be improved.
P.S. The photo attached to the post was taken on a 1936 Voigtländer Bessa medium format camera.
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