I have been thinking about what kind of a photographer I am. Do I even qualify to say that I am a photographer? Do I care about what genre of photography I spend my time shooting? Do I want to make a living of my photography? Here are some conclusions i have made…that ends up in something I guess I can call my photography philosophy.

By the way – the pictures are from the small town of Mjölby, a short way from where I live. As I got to town there was a marsch through the city in the pouring rain.

Genres or what to shoot

I have been listening to a lot of podcasts about photography for a while, as the days have been short and dark up here in the north. I have tried out many different podcasts – most of them in English. There are quite a few to choose from – even in my own language [Swedish] – still I have found it hard to find a podcast that really suits me and my approach to photography. I have tried different genres; landscape, street, Leica, Fujifilm, nature, beginner and even wedding photography…but I cant’t honestly say that I find myself whithin any of those genres, even if I have a foot in each (except wedding photography…). I think the closest match is street photography…but that depends how one boxes in the word ”street”. I think I am more ”documentary” oriented. Anyway – what is the point in calling yourself one thing or the other? I take pictures of the world around me when I feel like it. One day it could be a forest, the next day it could be one of my children and the next it could be a cathedral. Anything that inspires me. I realize that this is not the way to go if I want to be recognized and discovered – but I don’t care about that…

Conclusion; Shoot what ever gives you inspiraion. Follow your heart every day.

Becoming Professional?

I find that many of the podcasts – in fact that goes for Youtube as well – are made of people that runs buisnesses of photography in different shapes. Common ways to earn money in the photography world these days seem to be to shoot weddings, children, teach workshops or have a channel in some kind of social media or podcast/Youtube. This means that a lot of the podcast circles around these topics. The more I hear, the more I realize that I don’t want to make a living of photography. I want to enjoy my self as I pick up the camera. No pressure, no demands and no mass production of the same kind of pictures. Even the podcast ”The Beginner Photography Podcast” is much about how to make money of photography. Strange…

Conclusion; Don’t try and make a living of photography. Shoot for the love of photography.

Social Media

Then there is the world of social media. I have been on many of the different social media platforms – but have left most of them again. I can’t say I got so much more than stress out of it. The hunt for likes and comments grew to a point when it was not fun anymore. All this only to get a like from someone I did not know and who swiped by my picture and watched it for a second or two, before he/she went to the next picture. Why? What’s the point? I wasn’t shooting for the fun of it. I was shooting to please others for a second…

Conclusion; Show your pictures to people you care about, and do it in a way that they are really seen.

Gear

What about gear? I think I can honestly say that I have tried hundreds of different camera gear. I have absolutley had ”Gear Accusiotion Syndrome” – and may to some extent still suffer from it. Has it made me a better photographer? Well – yes in some ways.

Real photographers say; ”the camera is only a tool”, ”a camera is only a box that collects light” and ”it is not the camera that takes the pictures”. I am quite sure that I said that in some blog posts as well in my deep moments. As I think about this today I feel a little stupid. It sounds good – but why pretend that I understand photography better than others. The fact is that I love my camera. It has been different cameras over time – but the camera has been the inspiration to go out and shoot many times. A camera that I love finds it way down in my bag, over my shoulder och even stays in my hand. This has made me a better photographer – according to my own standards. At the very least I have shot more pictures beacuse of the love of my camera.

Conclusion; find a camera that makes you feel good and buy it. When the love is gone – try and find a new love. Your old camera doesn’t care…

RAW vs JPG

If you are a serious photographer you shoot RAW. Have I shot RAW? Yes I have. Have I gained from it? Well maybe a couple of times. It is absolutley more information in the picture. I use RAW if I shoot an important picture – or if I feel unsure of the exposure. But most of the time I shoot jpg:s – they are good enough and I can spend a minimum of time in front of my computer. I compare it to shooting film sometimes. Aspecially slide film. Then you have to get the exposure right – otherwise the picture is lost. And if it gets lost…so what? I am missing so many moments all the time anyway…

Conclusion; don’t shoot RAW unless you are really gaining something from it. Use your time to shoot instead of sitting in front of the computer.

A guy with a camera

Now to my last conclusion for the day. What about beeing a photographer or not? Can I call myself a photographer when I am not making a living from it? Do I have to consider myself an artist and call my pictures for ”my work” or ”my craft”? Or am I perhaps an amateur photographer? That is what I would call me up until now. But maybe I have to have a deeper purpose of my photography to call me that. Or at least be devoted to a specific genre? Maybe I am not a photographer at all…

Conclusion; be happy just to be a guy with a camera…

All pictures in this post were shot with my Leica MP 240 and the Voigtländer 35/1.2 version 3…if anyone wanted to know. All pictures are edited in Lightroom for about 20 seconds…