Courage of Conviction

I’ve had the honour of acting as a mentor to many photographers, either looking for advice or wishing to gain accreditation for their work through some form of recognised body. Most of the time, there are certain parameters that ‘must’ be met before accreditation is given. The problem is that these ‘guidelines’ are often wide and ambiguous or, at worst, seem to be ignored by the very people who set them in the first place.

There was one occasion that particularly set me off when I heard that a photographer I was advising had sought a second opinion from an esteemed peer who was also involved in adjudication procedures. The advice was well given and, on the face of it, entirely reasonable. However, the critique eventually coming from the panel of assessors was almost 180 degrees removed from the advice that had been given.

Applicants are encouraged to enter these processes as part of their photographic journey, but it doesn’t help when the advice they receive is so wide of the mark.

Suitably miffed, the applicant told me that if he had stuck to his guns and gone with his heart, the panel may still not have passed the work, but he would have been much closer to what was expected - and, more importantly, to what he himself felt was right.

The thing with project-style work is that it’s so much more than a single image. You have an investment in the project that nobody else can truly understand. You know where it started, where it has taken you and, most importantly, why you have made the decisions you have made.

At this point, you must have the 'courage of your convictions’.

Stay with your original plan. Nobody else knows the work, thought and effort you have put into it. If the work is something you can be personally proud of, don’t let someone else tell you that it has no value.

Of course, it’s nice to have your work appreciated by your peers. It’s reassuring, and there is nothing wrong with seeking advice or listening to criticism. But if someone doesn’t like it, that doesn’t automatically mean the work has no value.

The world of photography is littered with well-known personalities who have stayed with their own plan and, at some point, effectively said, ‘to hell with what anyone else thinks.’ It hasn’t done their careers any harm.

Artists such as Daido Moriyama, Sally Mann, Mario Giacomelli and many others have shunned convention and been sufficiently different for the world of art to take notice. Perhaps more importantly, they stayed true to the way they wanted to see and make their work.

I suppose my point is that it’s nice to have qualifications and to be part of something bigger, but stay true to yourselves. Take the time to judge your work in your own way. It doesn’t need to be rubber-stamped by someone else. Let your work speak for itself. Given time, it will find its own voice.

As a footnote to the story, the work has finally been published in its original format, without external interference - and, in my personal view, it is much better for it.