Don’t Have a Goal, Have a Direction

One of the many wonderful things about art is the lack of rules. No goal is needed, unless it’s created by the artist.

But, honestly, we tend to let others (camera makers, bloggers, authors, professional photographers) make the rules we follow. It’s a recipe for homogeny.

Even if we commit to create our own goals, we tend to just add them to the goals and expectations already present in the photography industry. This can become overwhelming.

An antidote to this is to chose a direction, and let go of goals.

A direction answers the why. It’s a stream that flows around obstructions. It fosters habits and process over products and outcomes.

If you foster your photography habit daily, over years you’ll build a body a work that can define a life in art. This is direction. This is more important than any project or goal could be.

As artists, we should recognize the lack of goals as one of the most important tools we have and, perhaps, our greatest advantage over professionals.