Tame your ego to find meaning in your photography

“Nobody cares about your photography” – Ted Forbes.

Did that upset you, did that hurt your ego? I’m sorry to say this but once you learn to tame your ego, this idiocracy for delusions of grandeur and entitlement the better. When we dampen our ego and accept what we have, and our current social status, we learn the work is more important than getting likes, and the tools we use.The brutal truth that no one cares about your photography is hard to hear. It can be devastating coming to the realisation that you weren’t created for some special purpose. Which happens to some of us, but the comfort of knowing this is why you shouldn’t get hung up on philosophy outside of existential meaning. When life is filled with so many things to enjoy, like taking photos.

He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. – Friedrich Nietzsche

Put aside your client work and making money for a minute because I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about your artistic craft. Your personal work beyond a paycheck. What’s the meaning within your photography, what’s the purpose of capturing the world around you? Be it Philosophy, Religion, Science or art, storytelling, documenting, whatever it may be. The only person that can give meaning to your photography is you.

Find that one thing that you would enjoy even if it never got recognition for it. Find that genre you would pay someone else so you could do it. If you can discover that drive that brings you joy and challenges you day to day, you have won. Capturing a photograph for yourself, remove the need for recognition and approval. Keep your ego in check and never forget why you started taking photographs. Work for your own satisfaction, and if someone likes your craft as a result of your hard work, that’s an added bonus.

The bittersweet when being an artist is that you will never reach the highest mountain because once you’re at the top you’ll see a higher peak. Find enjoyment in the climb instead of the destination. If you’ve lost your motivation it’s because you’ve not in tune with why you’re doing it. Maybe you have lost your way throughout all the media likes and followers, the constant need to be relevant and up to date.

“From the moment absurdity is recognised, it becomes a passion, the most harrowing of all.” Albert Camus said that individuals should embrace the absurd human condition while also continuing to explore and search for meaning. Don’t be hard on yourself, because behind that ego, you have a meaning, a goal a vision, a reason to press the shutter. Rekindle with the reason you picked up a camera and captured a photo in the first place.