Midlife Musings On Photography: The Thrill and Fear of Exposing Our Reality

“It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary.”

—David Bailey

A friend, who is part of a local art group I was considering joining, warned me that there is a huge bias against photographers. I wrinkled my nose and squinted my eyes.

“Are you serious?” I said.

“Sadly, yes,” She responded.

My friend is a photographer too and has felt the dismissal that comes with the so-called ease of simply clicking a shutter to create our art. But she has produced images so wildly imaginative that the naysayers begrudgingly handed over awards, recognition, and respect. I intend to take lessons from her in the future, both in photography and in attitude.

As Mr. Bailey says in the quote above, “it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary.” Extraordinary! What a great word. What a great way to see the world. I’m going to keep clicking that shutter and sharing my vision because doing so is the best part of my day.

How about you? Have you ever felt dismissed in your art?