Be You

NO ONE IS YOU AND THAT IS YOUR POWER

I Love that quote especially when it comes to creativity.

A while back I saw an argument between a couple of photographers, one was upset because they felt the other stole their photograph. It was a landscape image taken on public property that anyone could have captured. I can’t remember all the arguments now but it did get me thinking about how often I take the same image as someone else.

When I was going to school for photography I was shooting the same thing as 16 other people everyday and when we looked at the images at the end of the day no one ever had the exact same shot. I notice it every time my friend Melody and I take pictures together; while we are shooting in the exact same location we each have different ideas on the shots we want. From settings to angles, I don’t think you could find one image that would be exactly the same; especially once we edit the photos. Everyone has different tastes and sees things a different way. You could a hundred people taking a shot of the same thing and you would get 100 different images from it.

Now there is a flip side to this, which is deliberately trying to copy someone on a regular basis. I don’t want to get too far in to this because it could be a whole blog post itself but I think when learning it is only natural to copy others. In fact, I had assignments in school that the whole point was to copy another photographer as closely as possible, and because of that I do believe that emulating others is a good way to learn new techniques. Once you’ve learned whatever it is you are trying to learn though it is time to move on. Time to put your own spin on things. 

In the end whether you are an experienced artist who has found others emulating your work, or a new artist who is emulating others as a way to learn, just remember to be uniquely you because no one else is you and that is your power. 

So in the words of James Bay…why don’t you be you and I’ll be me.