Overcoming Burnout in Street Photography
I think something that we can all relate to as street photographers is there does come a point where you may feel “burnt out.” This feeling of burnout, however, I believe comes from an attachment to the results or the photographs you make. Here are some simple thoughts on how to overcome burnout as a street photographer:
Detach from the outcome
My most radical thought about street photography:
Would you still photograph if you never saw the results?
Imagine shooting for a lifetime but never seeing the results of your photographs—printed in a book, hanging in a gallery, or even simply made as a print. Let’s say you never get recognition, praise, or an audience that appreciates your work. Would you still shoot?
It’s most critical for us to detach from the outcome because this is what leads to burnout. The more we’re dependent upon making “good” photographs as a marker of success as a street photographer, the more easily burnt out we will be.
Redefine success
My new idea of being a successful street photographer is whether or not you are photographing every day. If you miss a day of shooting, that doesn’t mean you’re failing—it just means that you found an excuse not to press the shutter. There’s always an opportunity to make a photograph. I say, even if you make a self-portrait or simply take a photo out of your window, you are successful! You are doing the thing that matters most, making more photos…
Your next photograph is your best photograph
This is a very simple heuristic to live by, and I believe it will transform the way that you view success as a street photographer. If you treat the process like a stream of becoming, where each photo you make, however seemingly small or mundane it may be, is actually a big part of your evolution. Just treat the click of the shutter like you’re affirming life, and whenever you’re not clicking the shutter, you are denying life, and the ultimate death of the photographer is the day they decide to stop clicking the shutter.
Curiosity is the goal
I think people get burnt out only because they are attached to the results. If you never care for the superfluous, external things, it is inevitable that you will continue shooting, in my opinion. The goal of a street photographer is very simple:
Increase your curiosity by one percent each day
When you think about it, curiosity, and cultivating it, is of most importance. Curiosity is what’s going to lead us to continuously photograph. However, we must be full of vitality, and have strength within our physical legs, in order to act on our curiosities. The stronger you become physically, the stronger your photographs will be, and the more you will be filled with curiosity.
Think hypertrophy
Street photography is very similar to weightlifting. Sometimes, you show up to the gym and only knock out a few reps. However, the fact that you showed up to the gym and even made the effort is what truly matters. There is a discipline to practicing street photography daily that I believe goes a long way. Even if you show up with your camera in hand for just a 10-minute stroll, 30 minutes here or there, you’re at least making the effort, and the discipline goes a long way.
The less you use it, the more you lose it
Just treat practicing street photography like flexing a visual muscle. It’s a way for you to remain sharp and hone your strength, similar to weightlifting.
Remove distractions
This thought goes hand-in-hand with detaching from the outcome, and that is to remove all of the modern-day distractions from your life, such as social media, especially Instagram or YouTube. Stop consuming contemporary photography, watching photography YouTube channels, and just focus on the craft. Only the real ones will understand because the real ones don’t really give a fuck about an audience. The real ones are doing it for the sake of doing it and don’t even care about being connected to social platforms. I get it—you can meet other photographers online, share thoughts and ideas with them, etc. But there’s going to come a point where you need to cut the umbilical cord. The problem with the umbilical cord attached to you from Instagram is that you’re being fed poisonous sludge, toxic information, and becoming malnourished.
If you were attached to a mother through an umbilical cord that only consumed cigarettes, alcohol, and McDonald’s food, would you remain attached, or would you reach for a pair of scissors yourself and cut that damn cord as quickly as possible?
Embrace failure
I think after writing about this right now, and just thinking out loud, burnout is just a mindset that is attached to failure, dwelling in it, and not learning to accept it.
Street photography is 99% failure, and 1% success.
If I were to tell you that 99% of the time you are going to go out there with your camera, you will fail, and come home empty-handed, would you still practice street photography?
If the answer is yes, congratulations, you should have no problems with burnout. However, if you are still attached to the results, the idea of you making a good photograph, you will inevitably feel this overwhelming sensation of burnout. Burnout only occurs when you are weak-minded, caught up in external distractions, the results of your photographs, and have not yet learned to embrace failure openly. The real street photographer out there will accept failure as the number one part of the process because we understand that that is the name of the game. You must fail, keep failing, and learn to love it. You recognize that failure is just a part of the process, the journey of becoming a better street photographer. You don’t let failure burn you out, because you know that’s just a part of the game, and something that is getting you closer and closer to that inevitable outcome of making a successful photograph.
It may take you weeks, months, or years to make a photo that you resonate with. But the point is, you just keep shooting, keep failing, and keep going with your head up, simply embracing the process, the walk, and fueling your curiosity and lust for life through the click of the shutter. For this is all that truly matters—giving your life a deeper meaning, a sense of purpose and duty, through practicing street photography. The results, the outcome, the modern-day notions of success, are all superfluous to us. We don’t get burnt out because we love failure