The Eight Phases of Being a Photographer

Photography can be a very cyclical pursuit: you will often find yourself with almost a sense of deja vu as you go through different phases of creative preferences and feelings toward your own work. This great video discusses eight phases we photographers tend to go through.

Coming to you from Evan Ranft, this fun video discusses the eight phases a lot of photographers go through, often cyclically. Personally, I currently find myself in the phase of feeling a bit uninspired and like everything I produce is bad. Not that I am worried about this phase lasting forever, as I have been through it before and I will surely experience it again. But I certainly feel like whatever I shoot or edit just is not great at the moment. When I look at my current work objectively and compare it to some of what I consider my normal work from the past, it certainly seems perfectly average for my abilities, but for whatever reason, I just am not feeling inspired or proud of the images I am making at the moment. That's ok. It'll pass.

What phase do you find yourself in at the moment? Check out the video above for all eight phases.

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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I think I am in phase 23.5. Back to just enjoying creating again.
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