I got inspiration for this post from a photography friend the other side of the world and my daughter. On that note isn’t it amazing how technology has allowed us to connect with like minded people around the globe…but more on that another day. So Matty and Ellen thanks for this idea It is obviously something that is vibrating around the ether at the moment because you both posted about it at the same time from different parts of the world.
Judging others…why do we do it? What on earth makes us think that we have the right to judge another person. We are all guilty of it. I have done it for sure and I have tried to make myself consciously aware of when I am doing it and stop myself. I am prone to doing it particularly with other photographer’s work…and seriously who am I to judge another photographer? Do I really think that I am that good that I have the right to mentally tear apart their work? If you do something subconsciously it is one thing. The minute you become aware that you are doing it then it is a choice. Then you get to decide if you want to do it or not.
So lets take a scenario. I see another portrait photographer’s work and I think to myself ‘his work is always the same…corny and over processed..or always the same poses and location…boring’. Straight out judgement. What do I know about this person? Nothing probably. I don’t know that perhaps he is a single dad and working crazy hours around trying to be there for his kid and earn a living. Perhaps he has suffered astonishing heartbreak in the loss of a wife he loved deeply and for him just getting out of bed each day is the hardest thing to do. Perhaps this is not the work that feeds his soul but it feeds his children and so he does it over and over because for him it is a formula that puts money in his bank account and food on his table. Perhaps when he does get a moment to shoot the way he wants I would find that those photographs are the ones that would make me lean in and linger. The point is I do not know his story and even if I did know part of his story I am sure there would be spaces left to fill. So I will not judge him or his work.
Why someone writes the way they do, or paints the way they do is not my business and yes I can decide whether or not I like it but I have no right to judge them or their work. We will never know someones full story and what drives them to make the choices they make or do the things they do. If it is working for them then let it be. They too do not know your story. They do not know how your journey has been to get to this point. They do not know the roads you have travelled and how you have stumbled along the way. They do know of what feeds your soul and makes your eyes dance. You too would not want to be judged so do not do it to others.
Let them dance their individual dance in their own way. Let them be and hope that the world lets you be in return. Make a conscious decision this year to stop judging…if we all stop doing it that way we will all be free to be ourselves without fear. Wouldn’t that one simple thing make the world a better place?
nikivanvelden 