In January, I announced my official transformation from fashion photography into travel photography. I removed all the portraits and fashion editorial work from my website, I archived all the old photographs, and put away my old portfolio. I was entering a new phase: travel photography.
What have I accomplished?
In order to be known as a traveler and travel photographer, I decided that I needed to be seen in the travel industry. So I made it a point to get published both online and in print in relevant industry media. To date, I have photographed and written 14 guest blog posts, 2 magazine publications, and 1 newspaper article. I have been featured on 6 online publications as a travel photographer and I became a contributor for Untapped Cities - an online travel guide and magazine, put together by locals, expert photographers, and writers. Whew, not bad!
I also travelled extensively. I went to Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco (half a dozen times), and New York. I photographed Cuba, the ethnic minorities in southern China, and travelled all over Scandinavia. I spent 10 weeks abroad and a total of 15 weeks on the road. I accumulated a collection of images that I'm very proud of.
Oh yeah, I also moved to Toronto.
What should I have done better?
I should have networked more. I am just not good at going out to meet new people. I particularly had a hard time in Toronto when I first moved here, where I would go to a travel or a photography event and know nobody else in the room. But excuses excuses, I should have figured out a way to put myself out there more. If I don’t put myself out there in the industry, in front of the right people, then how else will the right people find me?
What do I hope to accomplish in the next 10 months?
Elevate my work.
Do I miss fashion photography?
Of course, but I miss it in the same way that a photographer who have just done his/her best work can suddenly feel inferior when they look at another photographer’s amazing work.
Artists can get really insecure sometimes and I am victim to that as well. I love travel photography and it is the right place for me. I had always known that I was not meant to be a fashion photographer even when I was photographing models and editorials. But now, when I look at the work of other fashion photographers, somewhere in my heart of hearts, I still miss that crazy world of fashion I left behind.
8 comments
Thank you for sharing what you've accomplished and learned during your passed 10 months as a travel photographer. I really appreciate the fact that you said "I had always known that I was not meant to be a fashion photographer even when I was photographing models and editorials." At the present I'm stuck somewhere in between. I am searching for the niche in photography that I was created to do and I, too, thought that was fashion, but I'm not quite sure that it is anymore. How did you know that it was travel photography that you were meant to do? Was there a major shift that happened?
ReplyDeleteIn my time in the fashion world, I just never felt compelled to execute the big elaborate vision that fashion photographers have. Yet I would happily spend months walking remote streets of foreign countries to find stories. That's when I knew it was time to let go of that world.
ReplyDeleteHi! Since your blog is a great source of inspiration for me I nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award, you can read the post and the rules for accepting it here http://autumninbruges.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/news/. Of course, you're not obliged to do anything!! Congratulations for the award!
ReplyDelete=) Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible year! I really love the first photo of the snowy cilffs... you're a great photographer!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ashley!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations...and nice photos. Tough decision I imagine...going from fashion to travel photography..probably less money...be careful...one day you might decide to follow the route of an Ansel Adams :-)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite photographer.
Not sure I'll ever be a purely landscape photog but who knows, I do miss that dark room of mine.
ReplyDelete