One Photographer's Failures That Led to Success

It's easy to look at anyone who has had success and see a perfect game, or luck, or a helping hand, but it's often the case that to reach success, you have to stand on many past failures.

Few of us are overly public with the times we failed, be it in a shoot, a business venture, or an ambition. Failure is tough to swallow and typically flies in direct opposition to our self-image. Nevertheless, it's important to fail and the could be a case for failing often. If you never fail in anything you do, it's highly unlikely you're pushing yourself, but rather playing it safe.

In this video, Peter Lindgren, an undeniably successful photographer, videographer, and YouTuber, talks about the failures that led him to this point. Although he is now well-known for being a creator in the photography sector — and a damned-good one — he failed at a similar career in a different sector. That isn't embarrassing, it isn't strange, and it detracts nothing from his achievements. As far as I can tell, failure is necessary to success in any impressive and meaningful way.

What failures have you built your success on? Share them in the comment section below.

Rob Baggs's picture

Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer, educator, and consultant from England. Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research. In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses.

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1 Comment

I need to get a tattoo of my motto. Now all I have to do is find my motto... This was a cool and inspiring story