Change of Priorities

I have been a freelance artist since 1992 which is quite a long time now that I think of it. Over the years I have produced original drawings and paintings, created painted glass windows, spent a good number of years painting murals and Trompe L'oeil in houses, restaurants and hotels, produced large backdrops for stage productions and designed quite a bit of graphic work for businesses and sole traders.

I had always been a keen amateur photographer with my trusty 35mm Pentax but when my daughter was due to be born, I purchased a small digital camera and immediately became hooked by the possibilities that the digital process allowed. I moved onto a DSLR and shortly after, someone asked me to take photos at their wedding. I had been to a wedding just a few weeks before and watched the photographer and thought' "He's really hogging the whole wedding" and "I'm sure I can do that." So I started on the road of wedding photography and have actually lost count the number that I have done. On top of weddings, I particularly enjoyed landscape photography and, being in its early years, I loved the Flickr community. There was a lot of great new stuff appearing and everyone was learning from each other, plus I made new friends overseas, even meeting up with some of them.

However, that was nearly 15 years ago and times have changed. I personally feel that photography is now too abundant. From smart phones to GoPros, everyone can (and do) take amazing photos every given day to the point that I now rarely, if ever, see anything new and "creative". I'm tired of "awesome" photos, selfies, long exposures, northern lights, milky ways, HDR, etc. Yes, there's still the odd photograph that is truly amazing but such is our glut of images that it just takes a quick view, a 'like', and we move on. It's quite disheartening.

Also, I have to confess, that I was getting rather bored of weddings. Not the photography side as that's always a challenge on the day but actually attending the same routines of a wedding was becoming a bit tiresome. It's a shame to see couples trying to make their day extra special and unique when actually they're not any different to anyone else. (Sorry if you're about to get married. My advice: save your money, get the basics and don't go for an elaborate meal. A fish supper would be ideal.)

So I'm moving back from photography. Not giving it up as such, just not pushing it as a career. I've removed the wedding section from my website but I'll be happy to provide that service if asked. I don't hate weddings, I just don't want to do them every week. I'll always do landscape photography but even now I take less than I used to. I think I'm at the age of enjoying the scenery at the time instead of trying to capture it into a small digital image.

I am now moving back into original art. That's where I can explore my creativity and I'm starting to have some success in selling my work, so it's what I'm going to focus on. If someone starts something amazingly new and exciting in the photography world then I'll probably sign up but until then, my camera bag will be swapped for an easel and a smock.