Create your photographs, your art, in any way that you want. Express yourself as you want to express yourself, ignoring all critics and “rules.”
(This podcast is also available through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.)
Here is the transcript for my friends who do not understand spoken English, or those who simply prefer to read rather than listen (the transcript has been cleaned up a little from the spoken word, to make it easier to read):
People, how are you? I have been meaning to write quite a few blog posts...and one thing has led to another that has prevented me from doing so, due to time constraints and everything else. So, I have decided to record the posts and create these little podcasts.
Hopefully, it will help some of you.
So, I am starting with this one, because a photographer friend of mine, just a few days ago, asked me...what he said to me was...that someone told him they didn't like his style. And that maybe he should edit his photos more, using Lightroom or some other program.
And my friend asked me, "Is it okay if I do not do that. Is it okay that I do not use Lightroom, and do my photos the way I want to do it." And I said, "Of course it is. You know, you have to do your photos the way you want to do them. Your style is your style."
And he's a good photographer. But he started to doubt himself, because of what this person said.
So I wanted to talk about this, because there must be other people that are having doubts about what they do. And it's very important to ignore all critics.
No one knows your mind…no one knows your heart…no one knows what you've been through in your life…what you've loved...what troubles you've gone through...your joys...your tears... everything.
So, no one can tell you how you should express yourself. And you need to do things the way you want to do them.
You know…when color photography first was invented, or started to gain traction, the serious photographers of the time thought it was a joke. Only “serious” photographers shot in black and white. Only black and white photography was art.
So, color photography was basically mocked by the supposed experts at the time. And there were photographers who wanted to shoot in color...and they did…and, they were not taken seriously. Of course, now, as time went on, they were recognized for the great artists and groundbreakers that they were…people like William Eggleston and Saul Leiter. Now they are praised and their photographs are famous.
© William Eggleston
© Saul Leiter
Could you imagine if they had listened to the critics, and not done their color photography, and stayed only with the black and white?
You know, it's a triple disaster...Number 1: they did not express themselves the way they wanted to, they did not create what they wanted. Number 2: their tremendous careers would never have happened. And, Number 3: we all would have lost out on seeing the wonderful works they created.
So, can you also imagine...the photographers that did want to do color...but they did not do it?…because they heard that it was “not serious,” and they heard that it was not “true art.” That only black and white photography was “serious.”
Can you imagine how many people ruined themselves in their photographic career, because they never attempted what they wanted to do, because they listened to someone else. There is no doubt there are people out there who would have been famous photographers and would have had great careers....and it never happened, because they stopped themselves. So, they lost, and we lost, because we we will never see the work they would have created.
And I'm not saying you should do this to gain any type of fame or anything like that…again, that doesn't matter. What matters is expressing yourself. How many artists were not even recognized in their lifetime?...look at Van Gogh.
When it comes to art: of course you want people to appreciate your art…but the importance is in expressing your true self, and people appreciating that.... actually, whether they do or they do not.
Gaining any type of fame or money…that's a side benefit.
Can you imagine Pablo Picasso creating a portrait, and showing it to a critic...you know, before Picasso was famous....and he said "Look, what do you think of my portrait?" And the critic looks at it and says, "Pablo, are you crazy? How can you put someone's nose on their foot? How can you put someone's ear on their shoulder? And look at this, the person's face is pointing backwards. This is ridiculous. Go, go make a proper portrait."
Could you imagine if Picasso listened to that? And altered the way he created his art, and did not express himself the way he wanted to?
What a disaster that would have been.
© Pablo Picasso
© Pablo Picasso
Do you understand? And again, how many artists DID limit themselves, because they were afraid of what someone might say? And they did not express themselves the way they wanted to?
So, I'll give you a little anecdote about my own photography. You know, when I started my Instagram, I only did black and white street photography, that was it. It was only black and white…and it was only street photography. And I wanted to do color. And my account grew pretty fast [when I only posted black and white photos]. But I wanted to do color, and I said to another friend, "I'm going to start posting in color. And I am pretty confident that it will hurt my account. I think I will lose some followers, and my rate of growth will slow, maybe even stop completely.”
And my friend said, "So, don't do it." And I said to my friend "Well, of course, I AM going to do it. I want to do it. I want to, you know, I want to express myself in color. I want to shoot color photographs. I like colorful photographs."
Of course, I could have just done it for myself and not posted it to Instagram, but I like showing what I do, and I like the little Instagram community, and I like the friends I've made on Instagram. So of course, I'm gonna post it to my account.
But I found it interesting how his first reaction was, "don't do it,” instead of the reaction being "Well, who cares if your account grows or not, express yourself".... that is what should have been his first reaction. But his first reaction was "Don't do it.”
And by the way, it did hurt my account...my rate of growth did slow, and I did lose some followers.
But after a period of time it went back to growing again. So I really didn't lose anything. If I had NOT done it, THAT would have been the big loss.
My first color photo posted on Instagram. © Ray Arias
You have to express yourself the way you want to do it. Ignore any rules…”you should do it this way"..."you should do it that way." I've said a few times in my written blog posts that there are no rules. And there ARE NO RULES when it comes to art, and when it comes to expressing yourself.
And it is the rule breakers that people remember, anyway. Not all of them, you know…not everybody's a rule breaker that creates beautiful work…but many of the people we remember, are the people who did things differently. Whether it's a photographer, or a painter, or a writer, or anything else, such as musicians. You have to be true to yourself.
There was a band called "Rush." You know, a rock band. And my understanding is that they were getting popularity in the beginning, and they would do things their own way; and when they started to gain some popularity the record company wanted them to change...to do a little more of the things that were considered a little more popular...and they refused. And they continued to do it their way, and of course they became super, super famous.
I have no doubt, if they had changed, they would have been ruined.
And that's just one example there. I'm sure you have all heard examples of people who went their own way, and it was the right thing to do. And it's ALWAYS the right thing to do.
Whether you are recognized or not, whether people like what you did or not...expressing yourself, the way you want to express yourself, is ALWAYS the right thing to do.
You know, life is short. It's long and it's short, you know, depending on how you look at it.
And you need to live it the way you want to, and not be influenced by people who…again…people who don't know you...don't know what you've been through...don't know what you know...what you've experienced…what you've felt.
So, that's it.
I wish all of you the best in the world.