It’s Okay to Suck at Photography

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been struggling with perfectionism since… forever. At the same time, I feel like I’m falling behind everyone else as a photographer. Tough combo, I must say. Even though I’m just a hobbyist with no aspirations of turning pro, it’s always been a struggle to publish my imperfect work. It’s increasingly becoming a struggle even to shoot it in the first place.

If you’ve felt like this recently, Andy Hutchinson has a wonderful video for you. A reminder you may have needed, and I sure as hell have. It’s okay to suck at photography. In fact, it can even be good for you and very liberating.

Before the Algorithm, There Were Just Hobbies

If you were born “before the internet,” you probably remember the time when hobbies were just something you simply do. Whether it’s stamp collecting, model railways, bird watching, fishing, painting, and yes – photography. Most of these were pursued in comfortable solitude, with no audience, no likes, and no pressure to perform.

Andy has had an array of hobbies (man, that sounds familiar), but when he first got into photography in the early 1980s, competition was the last thing on his mind. He just loved everything about the hobby. He taught himself to develop film and print photos in a darkroom, and didn’t share his work with anyone, let alone thousands of people on social media. His knowledge and enjoyment came from doing the thing, not from chasing external validation.

Camera clubs existed back then, and there certainly were photography competitions. So if you chased to compete, you could. But unlike today, you didn’t feel like you’re constantly competing against other artists. Like you’re constantly falling behind and are never good enough.

Enter Social Media

Andy says that social media changed photography as well as its purpose. The point has stopped being to take photos and enjoy the process, but it seems that the point is to take better photos than the next person. More likes, more reach, more clout. Chasing the algorithm and competing not just against other humans, but against the machine. I personally feel like the latter is the battle I’ll never win.

Along the way, people quit. They look at their work, compare it to everyone else’s, decide they don’t measure up, and gradually stop posting, even shooting. I’ve witnessed this myself, and it feels like recently it has started to happen more and more (or I’m just noticing more of it). I see people getting burned out by the constant rat race of social media algorithms, getting fed up with it, and giving up. And it’s such a shame, because there are so many great artists, creators, photographers, and activists behind these accounts. Andy puts that squarely on the culture social media created – the one that convinced people winning was the entire point.

It’s Okay to Just Do the Thing… And Suck at It

Now, I don’t want to sound like an old man complaining about “those damn computers.” I want to remind you, inspired by Andy’s video, that photography doesn’t owe anyone a performance. You don’t have to share your work, you don’t have to compete, or have to hit some imaginary standard before you’re allowed to call yourself a photographer. This goes for every other hobby as well, and it’s something I’m trying to remind myself of from time to time. Lately, more often than ever before.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t fully know how to use your camera, if your Instagram following is low or nonexistent, or if you come home with 200 shots and only keep three. First, nobody is keeping score.

Second, it’s about the process. I keep saying this over and over again in my articles, and I’ll continue to do so. Maybe I’m just convincing myself, who knows. :) Joke aside, but photography and any other hobby should help you step away from this complicated world, from constantly rushing, hustling, and perhaps competing at your day job. Hobbies are about (re)finding and (re)defining yourself, expressing yourself, enjoying your free time, and slowing down. They should be beneficial for your mental health, not deteriorate it.

And third, it’s also about memories. You don’t have to take the best photos in the world to have them preserve your precious memories. You don’t always have to be on the lookout for the perfect shot. Sometimes you just need to relax and take crappy photos that you’ll print and return to years later.

Of course, not all of us are the same, and some people genuinely have a more competitive spirit than others. If competition genuinely excites you and drives you to create, Andy isn’t telling you to drop it, and I sure am not gonna do it either. But for everyone else, those who are more like me, I’d like to invite you to step back and remember why you fell in love with your hobby in the first place. And then, pick photography back up as something you do for yourself.

[It’s Okay to be Crap at Photography (Or Any Hobby) | Andy Hutchinson]

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