Produce what you want to see

You decide what your final product is, no one else. All they can do is have an opinion about it.

Recently, I was listening to the podcast "Jeffery Saddoris: Everything. Within this he creates episodes called 'Deep Natter' along with Sean Tucker. These episodes are conversations between these two people that I really admire. At the bottom of this newsletter I give you their contact information.

In the episode in question (Deep Natter 67: What Do You Want to Say?) they talk about the importance of finding you own creative voice and producing the work you want to see in the world, regardless of what you think an audience wants to see from you.

This episode is one you really need to listen to if you photograph. In fact, you should re-listen all episodes of this podcast from now on and subscribe immediately. Thank me later.

The end product is exactly what you want it to be.

Sean is very clear about the end products he creates. He does this primarily for himself and not because his audience expects it from him. That also means that if you suddenly make something in a different direction, people might start complaining because "they didn't start following you for that". The podcast cites some more examples of Eminem and Prince, two outspoken artists who often took a different path. Whether it's Sean's book or Eminem or Prince's album, these are the end products they sent out into the world. End products that are exactly what they wanted it to be. The moment they have shared it, it is up to the public to have an opinion about it.

Cover of my photobook ‘Wat overblijft’ (What remains) Can be read on YouTube

It can be very tempting to just keep producing what followers expect from you. But if that doesn't feel right to you, why do so?

Work that you share on Social Media or with your group of friends during the creative process you probably do to gather feedback, gauge reactions so you can determine if your message is getting through, or if you need to make adjustments. But when you finally finish your project, it has become exactly what you wanted it to be.

Your final product, whether a photo series or a book, is exactly what you wanted to create. And that's where it stops. Others form opinions about this end product, but all of that is completely irrelevant anymore. Great if the public admires your work, too bad for them if they don't!

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Here are the links I promised you at the start…

You can listen to Deep Natter via Spotify, Apple Podcast or Google Podcast. Links can be found here: https://podcast.jefferysaddoris.com/

Jeffery Saddoris is an American podcaster, mix media artist and writer. You can find more about Jeffery here: https://jefferysaddoris.com/

Sean Tucker is an English photographer, filmmaker, author and speaker. Last year his book "The Meaning In the Making" was published and is mandatory reading for any creative. This instantly became one of my favorite books of all time that I often revisit. More info on Sean can be found here; https://www.seantucker.photography/