Blog - the first

This is an aspect of my website that I have thought about for a while now and it is something that is a tad scary, sharing my thoughts and ideas on here. But I have to think to myself, I do this anyway in the form of sharing my images, so I aim to also share with you my words.

I think that this process will focus on confidence and building it, so this seems a good start for my first post. Confidence is something we all struggle with and as a photographer I am forever doubting my images. Is the concept clear enough? Is the photography good enough? Will people understand it? This doubt is good as it makes me analyse my work, but I also need to ignore it sometimes.

As a creative, there is sometimes a question around what we do. I have experienced this during parts of my education, my interest not always being what was desired. I wasn’t going to study an academia and become a scientist. I was going to study my passion, Photography. I would get asked how I could do that for three years, or what would I do? Just click a button all day? I was lucky to have a lot of support but I became slightly nervous of my aspirations and worried that people wouldn’t approve, but the right people did. I learnt to follow my dream, ignore the negative and pursue my passion.

As a photographer I didn’t know my niche, my area and where my interest lay for a long time. I enjoyed all aspects but it was only in my third year at University where I discovered my love of alternative processes. I enjoy digital too but there is something different with alternative processes. The unknown, which ironically I don’t conventionally like, became fascinating to me. For someone who is very planned and organised, I found a freedom in the unknown. With the techniques I use, I may get one good result out of ten attempts. Previously, this would have terrified me but now it excites me, drives me and pushes me forward with my work. This is all been due to growing confidence in my ability, my ideas and my work.

I have found myself my little area and focus, which I continue to develop and explore. I combine my love of the sea, the outdoors and nature with my interest in darkroom processes. I aim to share more of this in my blog and see where this takes me!

thank you for reading