It’s Not You. It’s Them. (And by “them,” I mean the algorithm.)
Camera: Ricoh GR3
There’s this quiet crisis happening in photography right now.
Not with the cameras. Not with the light.
But with the feeling.
A lot of photographers, maybe you, maybe me, are staring at our own work and thinking:
“Did I lose it? Was I better before? Why does nobody care anymore?”
And I’m here to say: stop that right now.
It’s not that your photos have gotten worse. It’s that social media has turned into a slot machine run by invisible robots with a short attention span.
We used to post a photo because it meant something.
Now we post and immediately start doom-scrolling, refreshing like caffeinated squirrels waiting for the dopamine drip of likes.
And if it doesn’t come, we doubt ourselves.
But here’s the thing: photography is not fast food.
It’s not supposed to be mass-produced, swallowed, and forgotten ten seconds later.
It’s more like slow-cooked soul food. It takes time. It deserves taste.
Shoot what you love. Not what’s trending.
If you’re into abandoned gas stations at sunrise or grannies at bus stops or peeling paint on a broken door, own it.
Let others chase the light flares and symmetrical legs in Bali. You do you.
Photography isn’t about staying relevant. It’s about staying connected.
To your eye. Your instincts. Your weird little obsession with shadows on rainy days.
So yeah, social media might not notice your work today.
But that doesn’t make it less powerful.
Keep shooting like the world’s watching, even if it’s just you and that one friend who always comments “🔥.”
Trust me. That’s enough.
