A photo of mine made it into The Observer recently and it was a really big thrill. Seeing it in a newspaper and having someone acknowledging your work is a very nice incentive. It used to be that winning a competition at my local Camera Club also gave me the same feeling - although that appears to have slightly waned - mainly because ultimately, there is no particular payoff there. Its a nice ego boost but that's about it. So perhaps its time to think about what I want from photography and to set some goals.
I've always liked going to the major photography awards that we have here in the UK. It's a very inspirational thing to see another photographer's work and see what they like to shoot and the things that matter to them. So I think that would be a pretty cool objective to set - see one of my photographs in a major gallery (may as well set the bar high, right??). There's a long way to go yet but I do think this is a nice long term objective.
When I first started, 'Street' photography was my main genre of photography and while I still enjoy this, I've done it less and less. The aspect I enjoyed, was showing my hometown as I saw it. Sometimes it looks spectacular and sometimes its looks grimy and dirty but its always beautiful. So 'documenting London' will be an ongoing theme for me.
Its been roughly five years since I started taking my photography a bit more seriously so now would be a good time to do a 'retrospective'. I think this will take the form of a photobook. Now, anyone who has made one of these will know it's quite a long and labourious process - it may take a year to produce! The book will serve a few purposes: it will be a nice record of the shots I have taken; it will remind me of how far I have come and what I'm capable of; the photos used in the book will have a purpose instead of just sitting on the hard drive/internet; It should also bring back nostalgia for me (most of the photos will have involved a 'journey' of some kind).
Human portraiture. I don't think any other type of photography fascinates me more than this. The styles involved in this are limitless. The faces of people are so unique and capturing a person in a manner in which you see them is such a challenge. So more portraiture - although how this will manifest itself in a goal remains to be decided.
So there you have it. Some goals to achieve! I'd like to revisit this post in a year or so and just see how far along I am....
My image "Ronnie Scott's At Night" is in the bottom right hand corner...Its also in this gallery