Do Your Photographs Matter?

Your photographs probably don’t matter that much, and neither do mine. The one that just took home the blue ribbon at the state fair? It’s (probably) not going to change the world. The one that just made the cover of that magazine you’ve always hoped might publish your work? In a couple of years, you’ll likely look back on it and see all the things you’d do differently. The one that got all those likes on social? It’s unlikely to be the one you run back into the house to save if your home catches fire. It won’t be the cover images from any of my books that are most important to me when I look back on my life. No, most of the images we photographers go to such lengths to create—the money spent on gear and travel, the time spent getting it just right—really don’t matter that much in the grand scheme of things. The one that has pride of place for you right now? Eventually, you won’t even glance at it as you flip past it in your collections. What will matter is that you made the image in…