The Quiet Path to Getting Better

There’s an odd thing that happens when someone tells the world they’re a great photographer, or that they’re smart, cool, talented, whatever.
It almost always signals the opposite.

Don’t confuse this with real confidence. There’s a big difference between the things you tell yourself to grow, and the things you tell others because you’re fishing for praise. If you introduce yourself as a “great photographer,” you won’t hear applause from me.

It only reveals where you are in your journey, not your level of skill.

Photography isn’t a contest. It’s an art form, messy, emotional, subjective. Sure, we treat it like a competition sometimes: likes, followers, votes. But that’s not the real thing. It never has been.

In my last blog post, I gave some flowers. Nils m/skils (rapper) reminded me that we should give them while we can. The four photographers I mentioned aren’t inherently better than the countless others out there with far fewer followers.

Numbers don’t define artistry.

They shouldn’t, anyway.

I like green.
My partner loves blue.
Naturally, we’re drawn to different photographs.

That’s how this works, images are emotional feelings, and emotion is subjective.

Take @tron.snaps: he’s grown massively in his craft this past year on the streets. His work will resonate with some.

Meanwhile, @hskodvin will speak to others.

Both are great. Both are simply doing what they do.

*images from @trons.snaps and @hskodvin Instagram account

So how do you know you’re getting better?
Is entering contests the answer?

Honestly, these contests can go fudge themselves. If a competition can’t even offer meaningful feedback to the people who submit, what are you even paying for?
It becomes a machine, one that judges art with a checklist.

How do you make a contest out of art?

You can try to follow the rules: rule of thirds, leading lines, tidy horizons. But then you only managed to read the language of photography. That doesn’t make a photograph superior. And two minutes later, the judge will probably say: “Forget the rules. Do what feels right.”

Exactly.

So here’s my non contest answer to improvement:

You know you’re getting better when you shoot less, but every frame has intention.

When you can explain why your images work. When you begin to recognise your own style.

When light becomes your closest collaborator and bad weather becomes an opportunity instead of a problem.

When trends stop mattering.

When you no longer feel the need to tell people you’re great, because other photographers start telling you instead.
(Not just your friends. Not just your family.)

Turning your passion into a pressure cooker is the fastest way to lose it.

So experiment.
Try different styles, subjects, conditions, especially here in Norway.
Break rules.
Build a body of work.
Shoot constantly.
Trust the slow burn of experience.

And above all: go all in on the subject that truly moves you.

That’s where the growth is.