A short post for today, since this is a pretty self-explanatory rule. I’m going to repeat myself (which I hate doing), since this bears repeating: photography is a social activity, and a social medium. Yes, there are plenty of times that it’s solitary, especially at those times when it’s just you, your thoughts, your camera, and a bunch of inanimate subjects. However, photography doesn’t end when you’ve packed your gear and gone home.
If you’ve been doing this for any length of time, it’s likely you have thousands of images stored on your hard drive, memory cards, CD’s and DVDs, as well as in albums, envelopes and shoeboxes. All of those images — all that effort, all of that love — shouldn’t be left to gather dust. Share your photos!
You may not be comfortable yet with the idea of selling your work, or putting on a gallery show. Honestly, though, you don’t even need to do anything that drastic. You don’t need an audience that numbers in the thousands, hundreds, or even dozens. A person or two can be quite enough to share with, and the people with whom you share might change from time to time depending on why you show them.
Whether it’s sharing your vacation snaps with your Uncle Zbigniew, or maybe you’re not sure how your skills are shaping up, or would like advice on how to perfect a certain type of shot, finding the right audience can be a great experience for both you, and your viewer(s). Finding an experienced and sympathetic person with whom to share your photos can be an invaluable resource to get your craft where you’d like it to be.
So. Enough out of me for today. How do you share your photos, and with whom?