Stephen Walton Photography Workshops

Why does anyone become the person they are now? And why do we end up in the jobs we do? I can’t speak for anyone but myself but I thought it was an interesting discussion to understand why people become photographers.

It’s such a specific pursuit, we can do our job with just one tool. Nothing but a camera – even a footballer needs a ball and a goal. But for us photographers our load is light. Photography can be much bigger though, depending upon the level you want to achieve but the basic pursuit is simple.

Every pro has their own reasons for why they shoot, and what motivates them but, at their core, there are only a few psychological answers as to why photographers exist. Here’s what I think they are…

1. The Urge to Create

The urge to create something is inherently human. If you look past photography and think about what humans create – babies, buildings, transport, islands, homes, countries, political movements – pretty much everything apart from trees, animals, and plant life. 

This massive urge to create stems from humans wanting to leave a legacy behind when they pass. It makes us feel that we made an impact on the word and our names will still be remembered like Greek Gods.

Photography gives us this platform a) to create and b) to leave something tangible for future generations. Especially with the internet, anything that gets uploaded is almost guaranteed to remain somewhere forevermore.

2. Finding an Alternative Voice

Photographers generally aren’t extroverts meaning we like to stand in the shadows and watch (which I’ll come on to in our next point). Though some of us lack the confidence and social skills to be rock stars we still want to be noticed whilst not putting our hands up. 

So, to use photographs as a proxy of sorts to represent our feelings and interest is a comfortable way of potentially being recognised for our artistic talents. 

This can also be extended to photographers who are physically disabled. They can use their camera to express creativity despite their limitations

3. A Cerebral Form of Art

We’ve included this in our list as we can speak from experience. Not all photographers would class themselves as classically artistic, meaning we aren’t brilliant with a pen, pencil or paintbrush.

As much as we love being artistic, some of us struggle to draw a good portrait or landscape and the idea of painting a mural fills us with fear. 

This is why photography is an ‘easier’ medium to express creativity. We say ‘easier’ but photography isn’t ‘easy’, it takes time to learn about your tools and the way to compose your shot. 

We can still frame a scene, fill it with colour, add lighting, and direct our subjects with a camera so how different is it to be a painter? It’s just a different way to create art. 

4. Self Discovery

As an extension of voyeurism, there is also a draw to photography that allows people to live their lives through their pictures. I’ll try and explain this as simply as possible…

There are some of us who struggle, like introverts, to express emotions verbally and find it easy to do it through visuals instead. 

Many famous pro photographers use their backstories to frame the style of their work. Street photographers invariably grow up in big cities and similar to landscape shooters. They use their shots to express their feelings about their surroundings and how they see their environment. 

Street photographers sometimes use the lives of others to capture moments that they envy and characteristics they’d like to see in themselves. This fills their libraries with moments of ‘missing parts’ to their own personality

Do any of these reasons resonate with you? Deep down which of these answers can you relate to the most? I’d love to know.