The Value of Personal Projects for Photographers

For as long as I can remember, in my professional life as a photographer, I’ve always had a personal project that I was working on. I’d either be thinking about an idea that I wanted to explore or I’d be actively producing and shooting something. I never felt that I had to do personal projects. I did them because I wanted to.


Taking/making photographs has never been just a job for me. It’s not something that I look forward to retiring from. It’s something that makes me feel like I am “on purpose” and living the life I am meant to live. It’s also how I communicate and connect with people. That brings me joy especially when my imagery creates awareness or provokes thought.


One summer, early in our careers, my husband/partner and I decided to photograph the Jersey Shore.


Jersey Shore
Wildwood, NJ   ©Kelly/Mooney

We shot every weekend that summer, from the perspective of a bicycle, as we peddled our way through different towns along the shore. We spent one memorable afternoon in Wildwood taking portraits of all sorts of people,  in front of the graphic facade of a fun house. Some of those images created decades ago, still resonate in a timeless way.


There are very few images that I am still drawn to decades after I shoot them. Most of the images with staying power were shot on personal projects. Those images came from a personal place, my unique way of seeing the world at that point in time.


Gail - NJ Shore
Gail – NJ Shore

Those are the images that still speak to me and resonate with others.


I’m not quite sure I could come up with an exact dollar value on the personal projects I have done. Many have been monetized in in a variety of ways.  But the true value goes far deeper than the pocketbook.


What am I working on now?  Check it out.


Filed under: Inspirational, Personal Stories, Photography, Story telling, Travel, Women Tagged: Jersey Shore, Passion, photographer, Photography, Self-Initiated Projects, Story telling



The Value of Personal Projects for Photographers

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Travel Tips from a Bon Vivant

The Expressive Mom Show - The Baby Names That Will Put Mom In Court

Fred McMurray is Tech Talking about Klout with Carly Alyssa Thorne