10/20/2022
Imposter syndrome isn’t something that I’ve figured out, but recently had conversations with photographers that I look up to. The one thing that was common in every single conversation was that they felt it also.
In my head I thought, how could someone whose work is so dope in my eyes go through imposter syndrome? It didn’t really make sense to me. Through more conversation, it was apparent that we all are the hardest critics of ourselves. Someone else could be doing exactly what you are and you can be genuinely happy for them… so why can’t you be happy for yourself.
I go between wanting to chase and post photos that work well within instagrams algorithm, and posting photos that I genuinely enjoy whether it gets 5 likes or 500. The hard thing that I along with other creators struggle with is thinking that you 1. Have to produce something everyday and 2. Thinking that whatever you post has to be perfect.
I don’t know if people actually read through captions, but this is one of the things that’s on my mind a lot. I catch myself using social media in a toxic way, and more often than not, I’m able to stop. There’s just a handful of times where I go into a spiral of comparison and I think this is where some of the imposter syndrome stems from.
“Why aren’t my photos as good as theirs”
“Why aren’t my photos getting likes”
“Is my work not good enough”
These are the questions that LIVE in my head. What I don’t see is how much time and effort OTHER creatives are putting into their craft. I compare how much time IM PERSONALLY putting with how much time THEY are putting in. For all I know they could be putting in hours after work while I’m watching Netflix.
One thing I’ve learned through all this is just to be honest with yourself, congratulate your peers, and patiently wait your turn. If you put in the work, it’s a matter of when and not if.
Before I rant for too much longer, I’ll just leave it at this! Hopefully this is the type of stuff I can do podcasts on. Until then, here are my thoughts in words 🤘
