Finding Your Own Path
Maybe I’m Not an Imposter. Maybe I’m Leading…
For years, I have looked at other photographers and thought:
They’re better than me.
They’re more successful than me.
They have something I don’t.
Who am I to think I can do this?
I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way.
Imposter syndrome can be such a quiet thing. It doesn’t always arrive loudly. Sometimes it is simply the thought that creeps in when you see someone else doing something brilliantly.
You see their work.
Their opportunities.
Their confidence.
Their success.
And suddenly, you start measuring yourself against them.
You wonder why you aren’t further ahead. Why your work doesn’t look like theirs. Why you haven’t achieved what they have achieved.
You begin to believe that perhaps you are not good enough.
I have felt this many times throughout my photography journey.
I have looked at other photographers and thought they were better than me. More established than me. More successful than me. More confident than me.
And, if I’m honest, sometimes I still do.
But I have been trying to change the way I think about comparison.
Because the truth is, they are on their path.
And I am on mine.
There Is No Single Path to Follow
We are often given the impression that success follows a particular route.
You start here.
Then you achieve this.
Then you reach that level.
Then you become successful.
But life, creativity and photography rarely work like that.
There is no single route.
There is no map that tells us exactly where we should be at a certain age, after a certain number of years, or following a particular number of achievements.
Every photographer's journey is different.
Some people find their style early. Others spend years experimenting.
Some people build their businesses quickly. Others take a slower, more winding route.
Some people know exactly what they want to photograph. Others discover it gradually, through experience.
Some people get opportunities that seem to appear overnight.
Others work quietly for years before anyone notices.
None of these journeys is more valid than another.
They are simply different.
And that is something I am learning to embrace about my own photography journey.
My path does not need to look like anyone else's.
I Am Not Behind
For a long time, comparison made me feel as though I was behind.
Behind other photographers.
Behind where I thought I should be.
Behind the version of myself I imagined I would become.
But how can I be behind when I am not running the same race?
Someone else's success is not proof of my failure.
Someone else's opportunity does not mean there is less opportunity available to me.
Someone else's journey does not make mine less important.
Their path is theirs.
Mine is mine.
And perhaps the most important thing is that there is no one else who can walk my path in exactly the same way.
Creating a New Path
This is where my thinking about imposter syndrome has started to change.
Maybe I am not an imposter because I don't look like the people who came before me.
Maybe I am not supposed to.
Maybe I am not here to recreate someone else's career, style, story or success.
Maybe I am here to create my own.
A path that has not been walked before.
A route that is uniquely mine.
When I photograph, I bring my own experiences with me.
The way I see people.
The moments I notice.
The stories I am drawn to.
The things that move me.
The experiences that have shaped me.
No one else has lived my life.
No one else has seen the world exactly as I have seen it.
No one else brings the same combination of experiences, instincts, emotions and perspective to the work.
And the same is true for you.
There is no one like you.
Maybe I’m Not Imposing. Maybe I’m Leading.
The word imposter suggests that we are somewhere we don't belong.
That we have somehow managed to sneak into a room we were not invited into.
That eventually, someone will discover that we are not as capable as they thought we were.
But what if the feeling of being an imposter is sometimes simply the feeling of doing something new?
What if it feels uncomfortable because there is no blueprint?
What if it feels uncertain because no one else has done it in exactly the way you are doing it?
Maybe I am not imposing.
Maybe I am leading.
Not in the sense that I am better than anyone else.
Not because I have all the answers.
Not because I am completely confident all the time.
But because I am willing to keep moving forward.
To explore.
To try.
To make mistakes.
To learn.
To grow.
To create my own way.
Sometimes its just about taking the next step when you cannot see the whole path ahead.
Finding My Own Adventure
I absolutely love what I do - observing, connecting, moving through space with my vision through my lens, looking for moments and stories - be that with people, nature, light or moments.
This is 100% my journey. Not someone else's.
It has taken me through unexpected places.
It has changed over the years.
It has included doubt, comparison, excitement, fear, joy, rejection, opportunity and growth.
It has not always been straightforward.
But perhaps it was never supposed to be.
The best adventures rarely are.
We often want to know exactly where we are going before we begin.
We want reassurance that we are making the right choices.
We want to know that our route will lead somewhere worthwhile.
But sometimes the route only becomes visible once we start walking.
Sometimes we have to take the first step before we know what comes next.
There Is No One Like Me. There Is No One Like You.
I am learning that the goal is not to become more like the people I admire.
I can admire them.
I can learn from them.
I can be inspired by them.
But I do not need to become them.
The world does not need another version of someone else.
It needs us to bring our own perspective.
Our own voice.
Our own way of seeing.
Our own story.
And that is true whether you are a photographer, a business owner, an artist, a parent, a writer, a creative, or simply someone trying to figure out what comes next.
You do not have to follow the path that everyone else is taking.
You do not have to arrive at the same destination.
You do not have to prove that your journey is valid by making it look like someone else's.
You are allowed to take your own route.
You are allowed to change direction.
You are allowed to start again.
You are allowed to create something that has never existed before.
So, Maybe We Can Stop Comparing
I don't think comparison will ever disappear completely.
We are human.
We will always notice what other people are doing.
We will always admire other people's success.
Sometimes we will wish we were further along.
But perhaps we can learn to look at comparison differently.
Instead of asking:
Why am I not where they are?
We can ask:
Where am I going?
Instead of:
Why don't I have what they have?
We can ask:
What am I building?
Instead of:
Why am I not more like them?
We can ask:
What makes me uniquely me?
Because perhaps the path we are looking for is not the one someone else has already walked.
Perhaps it is the one we create as we go.
A new route.
A new adventure.
A path that didn't exist before we started walking it.
And maybe that is the point.
Maybe we are not imposters.
Maybe we are simply brave enough to step into places we have never been before.
Have you ever mistaken being on your own unique path for being an imposter?
What are you creating, exploring or building in your own way?
I would love to know.
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Whether you want to improve your shooting, learn how to edit your images, develop your creative eye, build confidence with your camera or simply have someone to guide you through the next stage of your photography journey, I would love to help.
My workshops are not about making you photograph like me.
They are about helping you discover how you see.
Because there is no one like you.
And there is no one who will create photographs in exactly the way you do.
So perhaps the goal is not to follow someone else's path.
Perhaps it is to find your own.
Please do reach out if you feel we could work together, to help shape how your journey looks.
Thanks for being here, thanks for taking the time to support me in reading this -
Love Emily x
PS
Check out all current workshops and tours here!