Interestingness

In 2020, right as the pandemic hit, I attended film school. One thing a teacher said back then has stayed with me ever since, and it shapes almost everything I do with photography today.

Interestingness.

Working with street photography, there’s an easy trap to fall into: the subject walking neatly in front of a nice building.

I fall into it too. Just last week I did it without thinking. For experiment, I posted the photo on Instagram and, of course, it did well.

Way better than other images from the same day that I personally found far more interesting.

If you’re chasing likes, that tells you something. But if you’re chasing meaning, it tells you something else entirely.

That teacher, who I’m pretty sure most of you reading this already know, became a pioneer by doing exactly this: following what he found interesting, and shaping it into stories. Not individual hits, but bodies of work.

As photographers, we can do the same. We can build sets. We can sequence images.

A single photo can be strong on its own, but when images start speaking to each other, something shifts. A small story forms. Suddenly it feels intentional, not like we’re just dumping our best shots into a carousel and hoping for the best.

This is where it gets hard. This is where you have to kill your darlings.

That image you love the most might not belong in the sequence. And that’s okay. Maybe it needs to stand alone. Maybe it belongs to a different story you haven’t seen yet. Sometimes it just needs time.

Patience helps. I’m not much of a fisherman, but I understand the appeal. Waiting. Letting things come to you.

Most of the time, I’m the opposite. I shoot, move on, shoot again. Maybe that’s a flaw. But right now, as I’m always learning, it feels like the right pace for me.

And that’s the point.

Be true to what you find interesting in the moment. Use everything you’ve learned, composition, light, timing, and trust it. If you do that, you’ll start seeing opportunities everywhere you walk, not just in “good” locations.

Be intentional. Be honest with yourself. The trap is always there for all of us. But noticing it is already a step forward.

And honestly? Following your own sense of interestingness is still the most rewarding way to make photographs.