Newsletter - Measure of success...

Hi friends,

I’ve been thinking about success a great deal lately. All around there are results from competitions, and I’m looking at other people’s photographs, seeing their hard work recognised and I'm feeling inspired.

Althought only if I take in a little at a time.

If I go binging on competition results and overload my brain with everything that was awesome this past year I start playing a game I prefer not to: the comparison game.

Contests have a way of making you see all the amazing work you never thought of doing while wishing you had. It's easy to start second-guessing while wallowing in self-deprecation when faced with the accolades of others.

But how do we measure success?

Surely someone who wins world-wide photography competitions are super successful and will have opportunity knocking on their door every minute and be forever in the fold?

Unlikely.

In photojournalism there is a saying: You are only as good as your last assignment. This means essentially: be prepared to hustle. No matter what type of photography you do, it is and always will be a hustle. Even if you are gainfully employed with a steady paycheck, you're still feeling the hustle.

Photography as a profession has a catch: It is really hard to do if you're not enjoying it. And if you're not aiming to do better, be better, learn more and grow further, chances are you are not having a good time.

I love entering competitions because they make me see my own progress and allow me to share photographs I feel good about making. This is important because that feeling will trump the moment when that photograph doesn't show up on the winner's list. 

Famous photographers used to be my measure of success. The ones who won the big awards in the big competitions and who were swarmed at the photography festivals, flocked by editors and fellow awesome photographers.

Success isn't that. It's something else. It is the ability to stay curious, to be vulnerable enough to grow more, to fall down and stand up again and again, and through all that still find joy and excitement in the process of telling stories in a frame.

Success is making a photograph you feel proud of. Success is taking a chance and then another. Success is conquering your fears. Success is taking a leap o faith. Success is still loving what you do after two decades of hustling.

Success is waking up every morning excited to go to work.

I hope you felt successful today. 

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Kristine