CAN I LIVE ?

The key word to a successful career in photography is specialization. No single person who has ever had success in photography did it all. Jack-of-all-trades photographers who shoot landscapes, portraits and everything in between cannot have a successful professional career.

And so goes the argument in professional photography circles, a very pointed one at that, about guys like me who just love shooting different things. And so goes my dilemma because, if I were to believe this opinion, I may very well be on the wrong path of a career.

But am I ?

I’ve always loved different things; different musical genres, different sports, different everything. Variety and eclecticism have mostly defined my tastes, my abilities and more dramatically, my personal and professional paths, which may explain why I’ve taken to seemingly unrelated practices such as caring for leather shoes, building small computer networks, penning essays and novels and taking many different types of photos: landscape photos, but also street photos, portrait photos, wildlife photos, still life photos, etc.

So specialization, although a very wise advice when it comes to making a name for oneself as a commercial professional (i.e. one who’s hired to take photos and who may have to build a portfolio reflecting one’s expertise) does not pertain to how I feel as an artistic photographer who uses the tool for personal expression first and foremost.

And trust me, I have tried feeling otherwise. I have tried solely being a landscape photographer, for example, because I’m naturally inclined to landscapes, but I’ve had a hard time resisting, for example, the barren beauty of an old dugout or the appeal of a spontaneous street portrait or even a casual postcard-like cityscape, especially when, after a few years of practice, I realized that all my favorite takes had this commonality: a mood.

So maybe this is what my ‘categorization’ should be, that of a mood photographer who delights in capturing evocative however-may-be-lit moments expressive of something, more so than producing picture-perfect-ready-for-publication images attesting only of professionalism. I guess it won’t be of any help for my ‘career’…