How Photography Changed My Life: My Story of Becoming a Photographer
What does photography mean to you? In this article, I share my story about how photography changed my life and my journey as an artist. See my ups, my downs, and see what it took me to get where I am today.
It's that time of the year again. All of our friends are doing their year in review or posting their top nines on Instagram. The notebooks open, the pens start clicking, and we reflect on our ups and downs of the previous year and look forward to a new year. This year, I chose to reflect on my entire career as a photographer and reminisce on the journey I embarked on just seven short years ago. |
The Beginning: Where It All Started
When we dig through our archives of old work, it's sometimes hard to look at. But the fact is, we all started somewhere. When we look at the work of the great artists in history, it is easy to say "I can never accomplish that level of work," but we often forget, they were standing in our same shoes when they first started.
“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” |
My journey to becoming an artist began in 2016 when I started my freshman year at a photo school. For four years, I attended the Photo School of The Arts, where my passions for photography and filmmaking were ignited. I remember sitting in my first photo class, having never picked up a camera in my life, and a few days later, I made my first short film. I remember falling in love with the process of creating something with the camera. After I completed the project, my teacher came over to me and said: "Hey, you got a good eye, kid. You should consider doing this as your profession. I think you've got a future in it". After hearing that, it clicked. From that point on, I decided that I wanted to work with my camera for the rest of my life. I then, in the second week of school, emptied my bank account and bought my first camera.
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How I Discovered My Passion for Portrait and Cityscape Photography
When I got my first camera, I was enamored by the beauty the world has to offer. I captured everything under the sun: macro photos of flowers, photos of the beach near my house, corporate events, and portraits. I have to admit, though: I tended to capture nature-related scenes, avoiding anything to do with people.
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Before I picked up a camera, I was timid. As I was shooting my way through the process and garnering a love for the art form, I started taking self-portraits. I photographed myself because I was the only one I felt comfortable confronting or speaking with.
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‘’If you’re focusing on capturing others, you must learn how to photograph yourself first. Find out who you are as a person. Figure out what makes you click. Discover your strengths and your weaknesses.’’
The Growth
The moment I realized that the gear was not the thing that was holding me back from creating great work, I devoted every hour of my free time I had to improving my craft. I did dozens of shoots a month, countless hours scouring the web for tutorials on lighting, Photoshop, and everything photography-related, and then went out and applied the lessons I was learning online to my shoots. Action was the key proponent that was moving my work forward. By the time I had reached photo year, I looked back and noticed I had put in over 1,000 hours into photography that year. I then had the realization that this was just the beginning. It was truly humbling to see how much work I put in, but how far I still had to go.
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After a year of hard work, It dawned on me. There is no such thing as an overnight success. To be great, you just have to put in the damn work and do it consistently. It is said that it takes 10,000 hours to master your craft, but I feel that once you reach 10,000 hours, that is just the beginning of the journey.
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Each year, I would look back on all of the shoots I did that year and would compare the last shot I took to the first photo I ever took in my career. Although the progress seemed substantial, I realized that the key to growth as an artist is to never be complacent with your work. That attitude carried me through the countless failed shoots, as I was only as good as the last shoot I did, and there was always the next photo to take. This mindset gave me the confidence to creating progressively better work year after year.
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My Defining Moment as an Artist
How long was it before you first got recognition for your work? For me, it took me four years. Four years of shooting daily, failing countless times, and sleepless nights following my passion before anybody really saw my work. When I started shooting, I would constantly ask myself: "if nobody saw my work, would I still keep shooting?" And the answer was always a resounding yes. In my junior year of high school, I was walking to my next class, and the school callboard caught my attention. There stood a massive, colorful poster from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards (an arts and writing completion for high school students). That day, I submitted six of my favorite images to the competition and didn't know what to expect. To my surprise, a few weeks later, I got an email from my country informing me that I had won two silver medals at the national level and was invited to an exhibition and ceremony.
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So, I hopped on a plane to head city, and I was overflowing with emotions. I didn't know what to expect. But nothing could have prepared me for what happened that memorable weekend. It changed my life forever.
Finding a Purpose in My Work
With a strong support system and work ethic under my belt, I felt as if I were creating good images: they were well exposed and the connection with the subject was there, but there was something missing to tie it all together. The missing piece to the puzzle was a purpose, a purpose of what I wanted to do with my work. The more I shot, the more I realized that there is more to photography than just taking pictures. There is the person behind the camera.
When I graduated high school, I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world through my pictures, but I didn't know how. That was when I was fortunate enough to land a gig as a head photographer at a summer camp. I was able to work there for past three years, and they were the most formative years for my work that I could ever asked for. During those three years, I discovered the message I want to convey to the world through my work, that is: to shine a light on the people who are making a difference in the world and capture the beauty in every person.
When I graduated high school, I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world through my pictures, but I didn't know how. That was when I was fortunate enough to land a gig as a head photographer at a summer camp. I was able to work there for past three years, and they were the most formative years for my work that I could ever asked for. During those three years, I discovered the message I want to convey to the world through my work, that is: to shine a light on the people who are making a difference in the world and capture the beauty in every person.
Closing Thoughts
Secondly, I learned that you should never be complacent with your work and that you are only as good as your last shoot. Using this mentality, it has driven me to create work that I could never had imagined I would be doing and keeps me getting better consistently. If I had been satisfied with one award or great photo, my career would have ended in where it's started.
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Lastly, if you want to succeed in this industry, you must stay true to who you are. There’s no one that can do it better than yourself. Being unique and true to yourself is the one determining factor that will set your work stand out from the rest. The only competition you have is yourself and being the best you could be. Don't waste your energy focusing on someone else's dreams, go out and conquer yours.
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Photography is more than just taking pictures, its a neverending process of self-discovery, accomplishments, and failures. So, in the spirit of the new year, look back at your old pictures and see how far you have come since the beginning. Photography, to me, means never giving up on dreams, having the persistence to keep shooting , and a vision to change the world one photo at a time.
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