A Love/Hate Relationship

Here's a thorny subject.

Guggenheim, Bilbao

Perhaps I'm becoming a little cranky as the years pass, but I find it increasingly difficult to reconcile myself with the endless stream of digital noise that fills social media. There is undoubtedly much to admire, and these platforms have given countless artists a voice they might never otherwise have had. Yet I can't escape the feeling that I'm constantly fighting against algorithms that seem determined to show me things I have absolutely no interest in.

If it's happening to me, I suspect it's happening to everyone else.

What troubles me most is that the people who have chosen to follow my work often don't seem to see it. Whether that's because my posts disappear into an endless timeline or because an algorithm quietly decides they're not worth showing, I have no way of knowing. Either way, it feels rather absurd that we're encouraged to pay simply to reach people who have already expressed an interest in what we do.

Sand Shadows

I'm an artist. I'd much rather spend my time making photographs than trying to understand changing algorithms or paying someone else to navigate them on my behalf. I genuinely value Facebook and Instagram because they allow me to share new work with friends and a wider audience. I just wish they did so a little more reliably.

My own website has always been my home—it's where new projects begin and where I have complete control over how they're presented. Social media has always been the signpost pointing people in that direction. Lately, though, I'm beginning to wonder whether the signposts are being hidden behind the hedge. On a good day, it seems that fewer than ten percent of those who follow me actually see what I post, and I can't help wondering whether I'm investing time for very little return. It's very much a love/hate relationship.

I did warn you I was feeling a little cranky.

There are now countless platforms, each competing for our attention and each demanding that we create content in a slightly different way. They all have their place, and for many people they work extremely well. I'm simply no longer convinced they're the best use of my time. I'd far rather be in the studio making photographs than feeding an endless digital appetite.

A Day at the Beach

My greatest fear, of course, is that if I step away from social media altogether, I risk quietly disappearing from view. That is the dilemma many artists face. We need to be seen, yet the route to being seen increasingly feels like an algorithmic lottery rather than a genuine connection with an audience.

Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in the middle: continuing to create the work that matters, sharing it where it makes sense, and accepting that our value as artists should never be measured by likes, reach or engagement, but by the work itself.