Imposter syndrome is a common psychological phenomenon that causes people to doubt their abilities and feel fake, despite their successes and skills. It can profoundly impact a photographer’s journey and progress. Today, I’ll explore practical strategies to deal with impostor syndrome and improve your confidence as a photographer.
Table of Contents
Recognizing Impostor Syndrome
The first step in overcoming impostor syndrome is to recognize that it exists. Furthermore, it doesn’t look the same for every photographer, manifesting itself in a variety of ways, such as:
- Not recognizing your talent. Even though your photographs are high quality, you may feel inadequate and believe your work is not up to the standards of other photographers around you.
- Not recognizing your style. Photographers often struggle to identify and define their unique style, feeling they have no clear artistic identity.
- Not appreciating the value of your photographs. Even when faced with a good reception to your photos, a photographer suffering from impostor syndrome may downplay the value of their images, attributing any success to luck rather than skill.
If you feel any of these things, you are not alone. Many successful photographers, artists, and professionals in other fields experience similar feelings, no matter their industry or their level of accomplishment. When you accept that this kind of feeling is possible, you take the first step toward reducing the impact on you.
Value Your Community
Generally speaking, receiving constructive feedback from trusted people, mentors, colleagues, or experts in photography is extremely helpful. Positive feedback can confirm your successes, while constructive feedback can offer points for improvement without undermining your confidence. Choosing people you trust who can provide balanced and valuable feedback is crucial, and avoiding negative people who are interested in denigrating your work is essential.
A supportive community of photographers will help you improve and grow without feeling like you’re an imposter. This community could be anything from a local photography group to an online forum or a workshop. Other photographers can give you a balanced perspective on your work, and hearing their encouragement and advice will help you see your photography in its true light.
Set Realistic Personal Goals and Celebrate Success
In photography, and in many other disciplines, having a clear goal helps you stay motivated, challenge yourself constructively, and monitor your progress over time.
But be careful. Absolutely avoid falling into the trap of setting unrealistic goals, which, when not achieved, fuel impostor syndrome. The bigger the goal, the more it should be a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound; this acronym isn’t an invention of mine but is widely used in project management).
Don’t forget the difference between a goal that depends upon you and a goal that doesn’t. A goal that depends upon you might be something like “take one photo every day for a year.” A goal that doesn’t depend upon you is something like “win first prize in this prestigious international photo contest.” The first kind of goal is constructive, while the second kind of goal is out of your hands, which makes it fuel for imposter syndrome.
Moreover, remember to celebrate your milestones and use these moments as an engine to move forward. Whether that is professional success, like getting hired by a new client, or personal success, like finally capturing a photo of an animal species that you had been looking for.
It can also be helpful to keep a journal. Periodically reviewing your notes allows you to remember your progress and recognize your growth. The same can be said of reviewing the pictures you made over time just by browsing your images catalog.
Learn from Failures
Every mistake offers a valuable lesson that can improve your photography skills. Photographic growth is not a smooth process; you inevitably will run into some challenges and setbacks. The more that you try new things, the more you will grow as a photographer, but also the more mistakes you will make. These mistakes don’t signify that you’re an imposter, but that you are learning.
Treat yourself with the kindness and understanding you reserve for a dear friend. When you make mistakes or face difficulties, it is essential to avoid excessive self-criticism. Instead, we should recognize that imperfection is a natural part of being human.
Invest in Ongoing Education
One of the best ways to help your self-confidence as a photographer is to learn new skills. It’s refreshing to look at your photos and see things you can do today that you couldn’t in the past. This is proof of improvement and competence – and feeling competent is the perfect antidote to imposter syndrome.
That’s why it is worth spending time on an ongoing basis to increase your photography skills through reading books, attending lectures, taking courses, participating in workshops, and doing whatever you can to add to your knowledge of photography. Continuous learning not only improves your technical skills, it also strengthens your sense of self-worth as a photographer.
Remember Your Passion
At the base of every photographer, there is a deep passion for something – whether that is other people if you’re a portrait or documentary photography, or the natural world if you’re a landscape or wildlife photographer. When impostor syndrome takes over, and you feel like you can’t do anything right, remember why you started in the first place.
Your passion should be your guide, pushing you to explore, capture, and share the beauty of the world around you. Photography offers a sense of peace and connection that can help to reduce stress and restore self-confidence. Go take photos of what you enjoy, breathe in the environments you love, and use this time to reflect and rejuvenate.
Conclusion
Imposter syndrome is a common, impactful, but surmountable challenge. Through a combination of learning new skills and adopting a positive mindset, you can overcome this condition and thrive as a photographer. Remember, your art is unique and deserves to be valued. Every step forward, however big or small, is proof that you are a photographer for a reason and belong in this field.
I hope this essay about overcoming the impostor syndrome was enjoyable and valuable. If you want to share your thoughts about this topic, I’d be happy to discuss it with you, so don’t hesitate to leave questions or feedback in the comments section below.
Myślę, że dobrze by było obok parametrów zdjęcia napisać program w jakim wywołano zdjęcie.
Hi Ciao Polny, I use Capture One and sometimes pre-process my NEF file with DxO Pure Raw, both in the last version. I don’t use Photoshop or any other pixel-level tool or any AI-assisted tool to change part of the photo.
Personally, I practice attention detour : I sing and now I think I’m an imposter as a singer. So I don’t care anymore about it concerning photography :D
:D
Japanese is probably why I draw croquis, it doesn’t turn out well. Or rather, someone has something
An easy deterrent to any worthwhile journey is to compare ourselves to others and/or try to measure up to them. Trying to “fit in” to another’s skill set or style is not healthy. Number two, our passions and heart for photography are not gear dependent, but rather an outcome of who we are and what we do. Gear is our servant, not our master. I do like my gear! “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken,” Oscar Wilde.
Thank you for your comment, Dave. Good points!
Thanks for raising the topic. It is an important one. I know the feeling. I have always enjoyed printing. It helps me to reflect, appreciate and move on. That is probably the main reason why I like to print and display photos.
Firstly I can see that the results so often show that I am improving and I also like it when visitors are moved to comment.
I had doubts when I ordered the Z9 that I was not actually good enough to own and use a it but the images on the wall seem to suggest that it isn’t true. It’s a hobby anyway and it is fun to print so people can see them.
I enjoy the opportunity not to worry about the images that didn’t work. It is true that only a very small percent are printed but that’s enough. The other images are really just like preparatory sketches an artist might do. I keep some of them anyway.
Thanks for sharing, Martin. I thought it was implied. I know the feeling firsthand, too, so I’m so glad you found a way to deal with it.
And I like soo much printing my picture as well!
Imposter syndrome is real, but is also the perfect excuse to cover the simple fact that my photo are not good enough. Today is extremely difficult to get a proper feedback, because Socials are an area where marketing techniques dominate. Professionals look at you as a customer and it goes as it goes. Photo groups are often a closed clan.
But, at the end, people do not ask me twice to see my photos. This is not imposter but something else.
I keep doing it for myself, Really appreciated if someone will suggest me where one amateur can receive a decent feedback.
Hi Mauro, it isn’t easy to create the right connections. I fully agree that generalist socials are not a good place; at least, they are not for me, and you can see this if you look at my Instagram profile (because I nearly don’t use it).
I have had better success on photographer forums, but I mainly ask for feedback from my close friends. We trust each other and provide honest opinions.
My family is a constant source of advice and support. Since they aren’t into nature photography, they can evaluate a picture for just what it is without weighing the effort involved or how unusual the subject is.
I have also had good relationships with some good professionals; this team is excellent.
So, it isn’t easy, but this piece of advice is one in which I believe.
Thank you for your article about Imposter syndrome. Something I fight against daily and sometimes. How does it manifest itself? That I sometimes don’t finish my projects, they are so damn bad. On one occasion I showed pictures to photographers in connection with an excursion to Gysinge, I was well received but I didn’t believe what they said, took a couple of glasses of wine and went to bed. I’ve been photographing for a long time and every now and then I almost ruin what I’ve done. I think it also has a touch of the Dunning-Kruger effect
To the extent that I don’t see what I do as something difficult, even though I have almost 50 0rs of experience in nature photography. How to proceed, well no idea is just to fight on and give the demons a resistance when they appear
Simply enjoying photography these days for many is not an easy task. We are constantly bombarded with endless streams of excellent imagery from all corners of the globe. The speed at which this happens is highly unnatural, I’d say, and puts too much emphasis on the final result rather than communicating new experiences with roughly the same group of people again and again.
Part of the antitode could be reducing your own exposure to too many photos online, and find value in your photography because it represents your own experience. The problem is, if you mainly go after the final result, there will always be something out there that’s even more novel and inspiring according to the algorithms that work in tandem with our own collective behaviour to redefine what is meaningful.
Excellent point, Jason.
Focusing on the photographer’s experience is a pretty good thing. I, too, agree that often, the journey is more important than the destination.
I enjoy photography but every now and then at irregular intervals 5,6,7 years I think everything is crap I’ve photographed so I’ve burned negatives and dior smashed hard drives to make sure that none of my old bad pictures are left, even pictures that have won juru-assessed exhibitions
For all I know, humility is a classic virtue, but a healthy dose of pride in one’s work is nothing wrong, too.
It’s a fine balancing act between the hard place of imposter syndrome, and the rock of – perceived, by others – Dunning-Kruger effect. Attempting to correct for one may well end one up in the other. There are a number of very visible examples of the latter – or rather, people that go against the current mainstream taste in their style.
All that I know is that I do not know whether my own photography is any good, or for that matter, all that bad. I also know that I’ve not been doing nearly enough of it, but life gets in the way.
Thanks for the article! It made me think.
Thank you for your kind words, James. I am really glad that you liked my article and that it stimulated your reflections.
Being full of yourself and overestimating yourself are the opposite sides and defects many people fall into. But those who belittle themselves live much worse!
Excellent article, Massimo. Thank you for posting that.
Thank you, Gordon. I am glad you liked it.