The ramblings of a tired photographer.

For the first time in 13 years, I’m experiencing creative burnout. It’s a weird feeling to lose the spark for something that used to bring you so much joy, but I guess its inevitable to lose passion for something when you’re so drained from the 9-5. Know what I mean? A huge part of photography involves post-processing, admin, and social media - and when you’ve spent all day in the office staring at screens, editing photos is the furthest thing from my mind.

The backlog has built up, deadlines have extended as far as they can go, there’s no such thing as a posting schedule, and now Instagram is penalising me too. Something has to give, and for a while, it had to be photography.

What’s the point in having a Masters degree in photography if I never get to photograph anything? Who’s going to pay for photography when AI can do my job now? Is anyone else feeling extremely fatigued and deflated? Struggling to navigate a creative world that’s trying it’s hardest to remain profitable. I can’t be the only one. I miss when photography was fun and I actually had a chance at succeeding with it. I don’t shoot for fun anymore, and if I want opportunities to earn, there’s usually a catch or compromise.

I’m embarking on a journey to find value in photography again. It might involve baby steps, shooting for myself and not for profit, learning not to compare my work to others, and pretending numbers and like counts don’t exist. I hope to reconnect with my creative self again soon, it’s been a while.

Sincerely, Beth.