Sharing and Not Caring

rolling countryside beneath broken clouds

Hello blog fan!

First an apology. I've been like one of those parents who leaves their small children home alone for a fortnight with nothing but cold pizza and a gallon of Sunny Delight for company, whilst they enjoy an all inclusive bargain holiday in the Med.

Yes, I have neglected you dreadfully. Yes, I have been pursuing my own selfish interests. Yes, there are some microwave meals in the fridge and a list of instructions of what to do if Social Services come calling. 

But don't imagine for one minute that I haven't been thinking of you all this time. I promise to try to be a better and more consistent blogger from now on. Let's have a big hug and pretend that none of this ever happened. Then we'll sort out your burns and soiled clothes.

Anyway!

Today's post is about the marvel that is the internet. More specifically, social media and the effects it can have on your photography. 

Now, some of you youngsters who have grown up in the digital age might not have known anything different, but to people of my generation and beyond, being able to share your pictures with other people, most of which you have never & will never meet, is mind blowing.

The opportunity to share pictures and have them critiqued or adored or any other reaction, is something that still amazes my tiny mind. 

I love the idea that I can be out walking, capture a beautiful landscape and in a very short while, that image is also seen by people all over the world. Somebody living in New York City or Tokyo has the opportunity to feel the same surge of happy emotion that I felt when stumbling across the scene originally. Or they may feel revolted and disgusted - but my days of naked selfies are generally behind me now.

Yesterday I shared the image at the top of this post on Twitter and after several retweets, it was favourited by a Canadian pornstar. Now, I can't imagine many connections that her and I may have otherwise had. But I love the idea that although we inhabit very different worlds, she has seen and enjoyed something from mine.

But the real point of this post is to urge you to stay true to your vision and not seek complete validation from the opinions of other people. 

Don't get me wrong - I bloody love getting retweets, likes and favourites for the pictures I post. And sometimes people say some very lovely things which genuinely warm my heart. 

But there are also times when I post pictures that get little or no reaction. Does this make them any less valid? To my mind, of course not! 

I only post pictures that I'm happy with. And that really is the key here - I'm happy with them. If they resonate with other people, great! But if they fall on deaf ears, (or blind eyes, or any other disability of your choice), that's absolutely fine too. I'm still happy with what I've produced. To me, the picture is still an expression of something lovely that I've seen and feel is worth sharing.

So, please don't be disillusioned if you don't get the kind of reception that you'd hoped for. It doesn't make your picture rubbish! 

The downside to this digital age is the overwhelming quantity of information that is being thrown at us all the time. The chances are, sometimes your picture is going to get overlooked because somebody else has just posted an image of a kitten riding a bicycle or something. 

Stand proudly by your work and don't change your mind about it because the world (or your perception of it) appears to think differently about it. 

And of course, this is true for any creative activity you may care to share - poetry, painting, intermittent-and-well-meaning-but-all-too-often-pointless-and-meandering-blog-posts-with-frankly-ridiculous-multiply-hyphenated-words - they all come from the heart in the hope that we might be a little better understood. 

When you're misunderstood, it's a reflection of communication, rather than the quality of your work. The world would be such a boring place if we all spoke the same language.

Please, stay true to your vision and keep taking, sharing and most importantly, enjoying your photography and other creative pursuits!