Beyond the Single Image – Why So Many Photographers Eventually Feel Stuck

I was chatting to a photographer recently who said something I've heard many times over the years.

"I've got thousands of photographs... but I don't really know where my photography is going."

It struck me because, at one time or another, I've felt exactly the same.

Most of us begin our photographic journey learning the technical side of the craft. We discover aperture, shutter speed and ISO. We learn composition, buy a better lens, perhaps join a camera club and start entering competitions.

Gradually, we become technically competent. We can make good photographs almost on demand.and then something odd happens, photography becomes... a little repetitive.

Not because we've run out of places to visit or subjects to photograph, but because we're still chasing individual pictures.

We head out hoping to come back with the photograph.

• Another landscape.

• Another street scene.

• Another flower.

• Another sunset.

There's nothing wrong with any of those images, but after a while they can begin to feel disconnected. We accumulate thousands of photographs, each standing proudly on its own, yet together they don't really say very much.

For me, this was the point where photography became truly interesting.

The Moment Everything Changed

One of the photographers who profoundly influenced my thinking was Paul Hill when I attended one of his workshops in the 1990's.

His work, particularly White Peak Dark Peak, wasn't simply a collection of beautiful landscape photographs. It was an exploration of place, memory, history and experience.

Each image gained meaning through its relationship with the others. The whole became greater than the sum of its parts. That idea stayed with me.

Then I began looking at the work of american photographer Robert Adams.

His photographs are often deceptively simple. Individually they can appear quiet, even understated. But viewed together they become a thoughtful meditation on landscape, humanity and our relationship with the landscape.

Neither photographer is asking us to admire a single spectacular image. They're inviting us into a conversation.

A Photograph Can Ask a Question

I've come to believe that photography changes when we stop asking,

"How can I make a better photograph?"

and start asking,

"What am I trying to understand?"

"What am I trying to say?"

That's where projects begin.

A project doesn't have to be grand or worthy. It doesn't require travelling to the Arctic or spending years documenting a distant culture.

A project might simply explore:

• the footpath you walk every morning

• an ageing orchard

• the changing seasons in a local wood

• your family kitchen

• a village high street

• the River Darent

• the places you return to again and again

The subject is almost secondary. What matters is curiosity.

Beyond the Single Image

Some while ago I realised that all of the great photographers worked on projects and sequences, rather than on individual images. Certainly they may be remembered for an iconic image, but it is almost always part of a project or sequence of images. Why is this?

Working on a project changes the way you photograph.

Instead of looking for one perfect image, you begin looking for relationships.

You notice repetition.

Contrast.

Connections.

Questions.

One photograph suggests the next.

Gradually, a body of work begins to emerge.

The pressure to create a masterpiece every time you press the shutter disappears because each photograph becomes part of something larger. Ironically, many of your individual photographs improve as a result.

That's Why I've Started "Beyond the Single Image"

After teaching photographers for many years, I've realised that many people don't need another lesson on aperture or Lightroom. What they're really looking for is direction.

They want to rediscover the excitement that first made them pick up a camera.

That's the idea behind Beyond the Single Image.

It's a place currently on Facebook, to explore projects, sequences and personal bodies of work. A place to discuss ideas rather than equipment. A place where photographs don't have to stand alone but can work together to create something richer and more meaningful.

If that sounds like where you are in your own photography, I'd love you to join me.

I'm running a free online Introduction to Project Photography webinar on Saturday 11th July at 11:00am , where we'll explore why projects can transform the way we think about photography and how you can begin developing one of your own. Perhaps it's time to stop asking,

"What's my next photograph?"

And start asking,

"What's my next project?"

Book free Webinar