Finding and Developing Your Personal Style as a Photographer

I want to ask you a question.

The last time you produced work for a client that wanted you to take the lead, did it feel like it was something that you were super excited by? Is it creating your own work that inspires you, or are you trying to fit into what you THINK people want to see?
Here’s what I am saying.

Around 5 years ago, I'd been so conditioned to look at what others were liking & doing, and following that, that I doubted my own imagination & drive endlessly. Instagram & other social media made it worse - seeing what was trendy and trying to match it. When I was creating my work, even though I was getting compliments from my peers, deep down I knew this is not what I should be creating and that my focus was in the wrong place. Sure the compliments were giving me that dopamine hit in the short term, but for me, it was definitely not worth it in the long term.

So in the last few years, things had to change. When I was studying in Montreal, an incredible professor, Michel Cloutier started mentoring me after my never-ending questions. After a long period and pondering on my discussions with him, something really switched inside of me. This is what I realized:

Your work is an extension of you, and your work would only shine through when you remove all that excess noise around you. Learn to tune into yourself, learn to create work that you love, not the one subtly suggested by your friends, not your family, not your peers & definitely not by trends. And the only way to do this is after persistent doing this process across some heavy number of years, but definitely not a half-assed effort. That is when you start developing your own style.

It sounds so simple, but what I’ve learned is that people usually overlook the simple things.
As for following other people’s style, the grass always appears greener on the other side, but it’s a psychological illusion, and if you water the grass on your own side and start taking care of it, it’ll turn pretty epic…and the greenest.