A Bad Photo Is Just Done for an Incorrect Purpose

Why Do You Think Some of the Known Photos Are Bad?

You are probably like me. You may sometimes wonder how well-known photos can be so praised, when there is nothing special about them.

It took me years to understand this phenomenon. When a well-known photographer makes photographs, he has a large and diverse audience: journalists, art critics, and celebrities. Most of them have access to media in all forms: audiovisual, magazines, television, etc.

When these influencers participate in joining the photographer's audience, it means that they appreciate his photographic activity. Even if the recent photos are of average quality for you, or for me, they will seem interesting to these people. They will talk about it in the media. Many people will look at these pictures.

They will be attracted, and in turn may share these pictures with others, thus they will come to increase the audience.

Either they will think that since the media is being talked about it, it must be a good picture, thus they will like and share it.

In both cases, the audience will grow, and these photos will become known.

The important thing is not that you do not like these pictures taken by someone famous. The important thing is that they are known. It is all about intentionality and the image you give.

Do You Think Your Photos Are Good or Not?

I often meet amateur or professional photographers.

I ask them to show me some of their latest photos.

Fans often say to me when they show them to me: "But mine are not very good!”

Professionals often tell me, "I could have done better."

Some people do not want to show their photos to me because they think their pictures are bad.

Finally, I meet a lot of photographers who think their photos are no good.

And yet when I look at them, I find most of them interesting. Not all, but most. The ones I do not like may not correspond to my taste and my photographic approach.

But if I put aside my emotions and stay objective, they are still interesting. I think that for most photographers, this finding will hold true. Most photos are interesting when viewed objectively.

I recommend that you do not judge your photos subjectively. Give yourself time. Show them. You will be surprised at the comments that will receive. Do not hesitate to share your photos with others. You will see how you will evolve, change, become different. Never forget that we are social animals. We exist by surrounding ourselves with other people.

Photos for Competitions, Exhibitions, Reports

I often repeat it during my photo courses or my conferences: every photo has a use.

If you create a photo for a particular purpose then it will be good for that purpose. It may become bad or inappropriate for another use.

If you reread the little story in this article, you will now understand that the photos I had chosen for the contest and the festival were poorly suited for those two purposes. But for some of my clients, they are good photos. I have found their use.

Always remember that there are strict rules for contest photos. I have drafted an article about this subject. The same is true for exhibition photos, for reportage photos, for stock photos, for family photos. Every photo should be made with a purpose in mind. From then on, it is good for that use and becomes bad for the others.

As always, this rule is not absolute. There are exceptions to the rule. There are photos that are good for different purposes. It is chance or luck. But these photos are rare. I have thought a lot about this. I realized that most of the time, these photos were marked by a very great photographic intentionality whether it was wanted by the photographer or lent by others.

If you must remember anything important, it is to always shoot with a specific purpose and for a specific use. Your photos will always be good.

Do not think you are making bad photos. The real problem is that your photos have not found the audience. Because of this, you have not developed a photographic intentionality, or you have no intentionality lent. These are all reasons why many photographers think their photos are no good.

It Is All About Luck and Timing

It often happens that a photo or collections are not immediately understood. It happened to me. It will happen again. It has certainly happened to you. Maybe these photos arrived too early or maybe they were just unlucky.

However, perseverance, pugnacity, and time will prove that these photos are eventually recognized as good. Their status as “bad photos” will fade.

The experience of rejection showed me how photos can be suited for different purposes, but not all. I learned that one should always give a chance to create photos that one believes in. Sometimes all it takes is a little help from fate for them to be recognized and admired.

If people tell you that your photos are bad, but you are convinced that they are not, hang in there. Do not give up. Keep promoting them. Find another story for them. Develop your intentionality. Be persistent in your choices. Your luck is changing!

Are the Photos We Discard From a Project Truly Bad?

This is a totally legitimate question. The answer is simple. Yes, they are bad if they do not fit the purpose you have set for your photo project.

They are bad because they do not meet the criteria you have set for the realization of your project photos.

Maybe they are not in focus, not well framed or maybe they are duplicated. There are many reasons. But maybe these photos are good for other photographers who do not have the same level of requirements as you.

Personally, when I demonstrate editing one of my photo projects during an internship, I often hear from interns who say when I delete a photo, "You're still not going to delete it. It's very good." And yet, I still delete it because my selection criteria are different from theirs.

So, if you put your personal photos in a particular context and delete them, they can still be bad for you despite others seeing their good.

Do Not Reduce Your Photo’s Identity to “Good” or “Bad”

At this stage of the article, you may ask, “What is the point of judging if all the pictures are good?” This question is legitimate.

Your answer is simple. When you judge, you do so in a particular context that imposes criteria.

For example, if you are judging wildlife photos, you are doing it in a wildlife context. If the goal is to analyze wildlife photos and you see a pet photo, you are going to judge it as bad. Yet, in a pet contest, it might win the first prize.

If you are judging natural landscape photos and in one photo you have an urban landscape, it will become bad in context.

What about the technically blurry or poorly framed photos? The author may have found them interesting and of excellent quality. They will certainly have their audience. They may be people who know nothing about photographic technique, but who are touched by the subjects.

Everything is completely subjective. There are no bad pictures. There are just photos that did not find their audience. And if you find bad photos, it is because they do not meet your aesthetic criteria, or you do not know how to look at them from another perspective.

Finally

I hope this article has opened a new way of seeing your photos and those of others.

There is no such thing as a bad photo. There are just photos that did not find their audience. The judgment of a photo is always done in a particular context. If a photo is bad in one context, it can become exceptionally good in another context. Everything is so subjective.

If you think your pictures are bad, do not hesitate to show them to several people. Eventually you will find someone who likes them. There are no exceptions to the rule.

Do not try to be consensual. Never forget that being average does not equate to striving to live out a quest for excellence.