How much support did you get

[hjoseph7]

How much support did you get when you were first starting out in photography ?

Right now, I feel like I'm getting zero support. Most of the people including family

members, either gave me the cold-shoulder, or looked at me as if I was nuts. I'm

not easily discouraged and I got too much invested in this, but I'm starting to feel

like "The Lone Ranger".

[colourabstractionism]

The very nature of the arts is wholly subjective. One person may think a photo is magnificent and the next may hate it intensely. I would not worry about support, you are your own biggest support and it is through sheer determination and passion that the best come out on top. If you have passion, you will succeed. Personally I have not much support right now, but I am still in education and have only been a photographer for around 6 months. However, I am applying for any grants and funds I can get to further my experiments. Best of luck to you! Chris

[ambers-photos]

have you tried local camera clubs you might be able to get in contact with local people who share your interest

 

Amber

[Matt Laur]

Perhaps the question should be: what have you done to give them a reason to support you? Think of their emotional investment in what you're doing as if it were any other sort of investment. How do you get people to invest (cash) in something you're starting up? You paint a fully-formed picture of where you are, where you're going, and how you'll get there. That will make what you're doing seem rational, and thus something that other people might want to go along with (rather than rolling their eyes).

 

People who start their own businesses, or who launch into a new activity of any kind that's supposed to go somewhere ... it either seems plausible, or Quixotic. Show them what's plausible about it, OR, show them the delight you get in tilting at windmills. Either way, they just a sense of why you're doing what you're doing. That is, if you find you need them to be on board. Maybe it's just easier to let them roll their eyes, and then give them a surprise later when you've gotten where you're going.

[timzeipekis]

I get the occasional "that's nice" from my wife.........otherwise I rely on all of you to shower me with praise, or ground me with a 3/3

[ellis_vener_photography]

My mother didn't take what I did seriously until I was about 7 years into my career. And even then it was only once I had my first one man exhibit.

[lex_jenkins]

No problems. When I got into photography as a kid my stepfather was a film producer in NYC (PSAs, industrials, etc.). I was always around photographers. All my friends had one acknowledged shutterbug in the family.

 

When I meet people who don't understand photography as useful for something other than snapshots of kids, pets or spouses posed in front of monuments and buildings, they seem like the oddballs to me.

 

Or else I'm totally comfortable with being the oddball. Never was sure about that one.

[samn]

Harry, enjoy it. You create, the others scoff. You produce beauty, the others drink beer. You photograph for yourself, not them.

[richterjw]

I'm in the same boat as Tim. My fiance can't understand this passion/obsession, but I was into it before I met her, so she copes. JR

[hjoseph7]

Thanks all of you for the Support. Great point Matt !

[gordonjb]

Matt is so well balanced it scares me :-)

 

When I was a young lad and told my folks I wanted to go back to school and study photography they told me they were selling their house and moving out of the city and it was not really their problem. They pretty much stuck by that line until they passed away.

 

Harry; it is all about you and your vision. You do not need encouragement and you should not expect it.

[httpwww.someantyx.coma]

W.H. Jackson had the support of a Mule...

 

Oddly I get a lot of support and I'm not sure why, lots of artistic types in my family I guess. But I liked the 'tilting at windmills' and oddball bits here. Yes I am definitely the oddball of the family.

[yann1]

My wife and a few photo.net members are very supportive, others don't really care...

If photography is a hobby, it doesn't matter what people say, if it's a job, then it's important.

[shots worth sharing]

I'm not clear on what kind of support you're looking for, Harry. If you're looking to get into the business that's one thing and if you're in it for self-expression, that's quite another. If the latter, I'd agree it is a drag if no one is particularly interested in what you're trying to express. On the other hand, there's always the the nagging doubt about the genuineness of praise from friends and family.

[lake_photography]

I started in photography in 1966 or 1967. I can not begin to tell you the amount of

support I received. My best friends sister, a professional photographer took me under

her wing. She taught me the technical end of the camera but let me photograph as i

wished and would offer opinion when asked, which believe me was often. Mt parents,

aunt and uncles, bosses and of course friends were all supportive even to the point of

studying photography a bit to try and figure out what to get me for my birthday and

Christmas. The support I received was tremendous.

[tonmestrom]

a good photographer stands by his work. That's not arrogance but being conscious of what you're about as a photographer. Like Lex I'm always around photographers (or vice versa) and other artists. They are the most critical lot you could imagine and they keep me with both feet on the ground.

 

Also I'm lucky to have a wife who is a artist in her own right. Since we both studied art but work in different fields it sort of works complementary.

 

That's the trouble on sites like PN. Most people are too afraid they'll get flamed if they tell the truth (or what they feel is the truth). Praise is hollow if you can't be sure that the one who gives it is also quite willing to cut you off at the knees if it's warranted. Find people who do that for you. That's what I would call support.

[thomas_hardy1]

I have friends who are in a photography club. They have a great time and seem to

learn a lot. Check in your area for a club especially if you hate that lone ranger feeling.

[bill_lowenburg]

When you say "zero support," what do you mean? Are the people around you not into you photographing them? If so, go elsewhere. Photography is a great way to meet new people. If by "zero support" you mean they are not oohing and aahing at the pictures you show them, who cares? They don't know and obviously don't care anything about photography so why should you need their approval?

 

If photography is taking up time your family members think you should be spending with them, organize your time differently. Also, tell them to be thankful you didn't decide to take up the drums or bagpipes...there are a lot of things they would appreciate less. Everyone deserves the right to pursue their own self-fulfillment, so encourage those around you to pursue theirs and go out and do your thing!

 

If you are pursuing photography as a vehicle for your own self-development and to help you figure out what it means to be alive, then photography is it's own reward. But if you are pursuing it to make an impression on the people around you, you might as well find out what they approve of and just do that. If the issue is approval, then do whatever you need to get that approval. But if the issue is really photography, then make photographs. It can open up a whole new world through meeting new people and learning about the work of other photographers.

 

There have been periods of my life when I had plenty of support and a wonderful mentor, and there have been periods when I haven't. I always kept photographing though, because for me the process is a kind of educational obsession. It's a means of learning about the world and my place in it, not a hobby or a means to get approval or praise from others. I guess that's a way of saying I do it because I need to, not because I it's "fun" or a "pastime." If there were nobody else in the world that wanted to look at my pictures, I'd still make them because I like to look at them and I find the process interesting.

 

Hi-ho Silver, ride on! Good luck with your work!