Other People’s Reactions
Over the years, I’ve entered photography contests, participated in camera clubs, and shared enough photographs to notice something that at first seemed contradictory. Some of the images I am most proud of receive little attention, while photographs I would immediately toss become someone else’s favorite. It’s a mystery to me.
For a long time, I treated these reactions as meaningful measurements. Awards, likes, positive comments, and recognition felt connected to success. Not completely, but enough that they influenced how I felt about my work and, at times, what I chose to pursue.
That changed gradually.
Part of the change came from realizing that pleasing everyone is impossible. Every viewer brings their own experiences, preferences, biases, and expectations to a photograph. The longer I photographed, the more obvious this became. What one person sees as compelling, another dismisses without a second thought. Neither reaction is inherently right or wrong.
The more significant realization was that approval is not a measure of creative success.
Approval may tell me something about an audience. It may reveal trends, preferences, or communication. It often provides useful feedback. What it cannot do is determine whether a photograph fulfilled the reason I made it in the first place.
When I evaluate my own work now, the question is not whether others will like it. The question is whether the photograph satisfied the creative impulse that caused me to make it. Did I see what I thought I saw? Did I understand what drew me to the subject? Did the final image express my idea in a way that feels honest to me?
When the answer is no, that is valuable information. Perhaps the concept or technique was weak. Often, it is some combination of the two. Either way, I learn from the experience.
It’s interesting that this shift in attitude has not diminished my appreciation for feedback. In fact, I probably appreciate it a little more. I still enjoy hearing how people respond to my work. Criticism can be useful. Praise can be gratifying. However, I am no longer mislead by either.
Photographs do not become better because someone praises them, nor worse if they don’t.
People’s reactions belongs to them.
The satisfaction I get from photography comes from creating and watching an idea come to fruition. Other people’s reactions are simply part of what happens after the photograph leaves my hands.
Commercial photography occupies a different space altogether. There, my responsibility is not solely to my own creative impulses but to the needs and vision of the client.
I have a responsibility to communicate clearly before, during, and after a commercial project to ensure expectations are aligned and the final images serve the client’s intended purpose. Their satisfaction matters because the work is collaborative by design.
Personal photography, however, answers a different question and serves a different calling. It asks whether I was attentive enough to recognize something worth pursuing and skillful enough to bring it forward. Success or failure begins there and ends with me.
Everything after that belongs to someone else.
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