I recently met a remarkable young man, Samuel Goh, the photographer at my sister’s wedding. I stumbled upon this beautiful blog that he had written and I couldn’t have said it better. He talks about the journey that most people face when living their dreams, facing ‘doubt’ and ‘feeling lost’ as he lost himself for a moment. His honesty and vulnerability are simply inspiring. Thank you Sam. Here is his story:
‘The past two months have been a struggle. After a year of constantly photographing events and couples, I think I’ve come to a plateau. The same sort of images kept appearing on my camera. I wanted to give more, I wanted to be better, but I couldn’t push past my limits. As would most people, I started to look outwards. Social media was a constant source of distraction, with a million other talented artists, I was sure I could find my motivation again. I couldn’t be more wrong. The photography world is filled with so many talented people, compounded by a variety of different styles. Whilst some were good at storytelling, others produced intriguing images; others were so good I wouldn’t bother even trying to describe them here. Yet the more I looked, the more consumed I became with my inadequacy. Instead of being inspired by different ideas, I started to dilute my style.
For a while, I couldn’t foresee taking another photograph. Every photograph seemed the same and for some reason, I just couldn’t create the same kind of images that I’ve seen others create. Doubt has slowly crept in, replacing the positivity of photography with the fear of failure and inadequacy.
Sometimes I wonder if all photographers, artists, story tellers, creative people fall into the same kind of rut. Or perhaps it’s just me. I wonder if all the things I do and all the effort I put in will pay off in the end. I wonder if things will get better, or will they turn for the worse. Most times, I don’t really know.
I couldn’t figure out the problem. What IS the problem? It took a whole lot of soul searching and the honest opinion of a friend before I could see more clearly.
I’ve lost myself… click here to read the full blog post.
Stay tuned to www.KirstyTV.com for full episodes of our interviews, when our talk show launches in March 2013. We will be sharing inspirational stories from our interviews with everyday people, celebrities and experts.
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