Knowing When You’re Ready

The more you learn about something, the more you realise how much there is still to learn. Photography is no different. Decades into my own journey, I’m still learning, still experimenting and still finding new ways of looking at the world through a camera.

I’ve been taking photographs for since a child. During that time, cameras have changed, technology has moved forward and my own photography has evolved with them. I’ve photographed musicians in dark venues, people in their places of work, life on the street, landscapes and fleeting moments that simply caught my attention. I’ve experimented, made mistakes, changed direction and, hopefully, become a better photographer along the way.

But technical improvement is only part of it.

Over the years, I’ve become much clearer about what interests me as a photographer and, more importantly, why I make photographs in the first place. I’m less concerned now with simply making a technically good image. I want to make photographs that have presence, images that say something about the subject.

Recently, I’ve been thinking seriously about where I am with my photography and, perhaps more importantly, where I want to take it next.

It’s easy to become comfortable with what you do. To keep doing the things you know you can do well, working in familiar ways and, without really noticing, finding yourself in something of a rut. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with being comfortable, but comfort doesn’t always push you forward.

Sometimes you need to challenge yourself. To set yourself a goal that feels slightly beyond where you are now and see whether you can reach it.

I feel ready to take my photography up a gear.

Next year, I’m planning to enter a national portrait competition. I’m realistic about what that means. I know the standard will be exceptionally high and that I’ll be putting my work alongside that of some of the very best photographers out there. But after decades of taking photographs, studying the work of others and developing my own approach, I believe my experience and knowledge have reached a point where I can step onto that national stage without feeling completely out of my depth.

That doesn’t mean I expect to succeed. Nor does it mean I believe I’ve mastered photography. Far from it. It means I believe I’m ready to compete, to put my work forward and see how it stands alongside the work of others.

That decision has prompted me to begin planning a new series of portraits.

I’m approaching this project deliberately, thinking about the people I want to photograph, what makes them interesting, and how best to represent them. Location and environment matter, but more than anything I’m thinking about the connection between photographer and subject.

Portrait photography is a collaboration. However carefully I plan, the photograph ultimately depends on the relationship that exists, however briefly, between myself and the person in front of the camera. People need to understand what I’m trying to do and feel comfortable being part of it. The camera settings matter, but so does everything that happens before you press the shutter.

So for now, I’m planning, making notes and reaching out to people, with the aim of creating a body of work that feels both considered and coherent.

There are no guarantees that any of the photographs I make will be successful. That is part of the challenge.

But I do feel ready to try.