The Shift

When I first picked up a camera, I was obsessed with shooting portraits. I loved taking photos and wanted to do it all the time. Since I also loved spending time with my friends, the best way to combine the two was to make them my subjects. We’d hang out, talk, laugh, experiment, and come back with photos we all liked. Win-win.

As time went on, both the artist and the person in me began to evolve. I found myself drawn more toward nature and away from portraits. Over time, I realized that I could find more joy in photography when there wasn’t any pressure to deliver on someone else’s expectations.

When you photograph people, there’s always some pressure to make the portrait look and feel the way the subject wants. Sometimes it’s unspoken, like when shooting friends or family. Other times it’s very clear, like with paying clients. Either way, it began to feel like I was executing someone else’s vision, creating another person’s art. When that happened, the art started to feel like work. And for me, photography has always been about play.

Nature and street photography feel different. Here, I own my art. I’m accountable only to myself. Trees, rocks, beaches, birds, and random objects on the street don’t have opinions. They don’t review the outcome or post the results online for validation. I can choose my angles, edit how I like, and create the photos I want to make. It’s freeing. It’s play.

That doesn’t mean it always has to be this way. There are still opportunities to photograph people in a way that aligns with my artistic vision, and I’m open to those. I look forward to them. But until then, I know exactly where I’ll be pointing my camera.