Favorites.

Christmas Day, New Mexico, 2023.

For as long as I can remember, my favorite photograph has never been someone else’s favorite, but of course, its not just me. The conundrum is that if we just photograph for ourselves, then who is going to buy all our favorite photographs? All too often I see photographers making a book which they edit themselves and then wonder why no one buys it. Of course there will be people who like what you like, but that might not be as many as you think, if it was we would all be rich and famous. In the art world there is plenty of room for good work, but there is also plenty of room for bad work. All it takes is one person to say the right thing and a career can take off for someone leaving the rest of us jumping up and down with frustration, but that’s objectivity for you.

We will always feel a little deflated if someone doesn’t like what we like, but the trick is to not care. After all, the only opinion about your own work that matters is yours. My late father once told me, “You can spend your whole life trying to please the bastards, but you never will. Don’t waste your time or their time. Just be your own man.” I think this applies to anything you do in life, especially photography.