“You Don’t Have to Be Crazy to Work Here but it Helps”, “Keep Calm, and Drink Tea”, “Prosecco Made Me Do It”, “This Is Not a House It’s a Home!”, “Be Fearless, Change is Good”. All quick simple slogans that have good intentions and a little humour. Validations that can be hung on a wall as a reminder of how to live life.

Some people fill their homes with such positive affirmations. I don’t have a problem with that it’s just not something I do. In fact I try and avoid simple statements as solutions to complex situations as a life rule. I also try and avoid them when it comes to photography but that is much harder. Primarily because the many years I have spent engaged with photography have allowed me to reflect and analyze the medium to a point at which I have been able to identify themes that do suggest simple solutions. Simple solutions but not I hope trite statements.

I share these through my teaching, mentorships and with anyone else who asks for my opinion. Many of them appear in various articles I have written for this website. Just put in some keywords in the search bar and you might find what you are looking for.

However, in contrast Threads seems to be filled with photographers endlessly posting messages of a positive nature with little depth or use. Promoting a concept of community whilst proclaiming quick fixes to photographic success. In itself this is not a problem. You don’t have to join Threads, read these posts or believe them, but I think they point to a wider issue within photography. That of looking for quick answers rather than continual growth and the danger of the self-appointed expert.

Expertise comes from continued growth and hopefully success comes through the learning gained on that journey. You may want to turn that into a slogan. I don’t because this is a nuanced reality. It’s simple but complicated. Narrow experience leads to narrow perspectives and judgemental opinions which when challenged either crumble or provoke aggressive defensive responses. In essence this is engagement bait.

Statements not written to help or inform but to raise follower numbers through a cynical approach to communication. Just as statements written on cards or as decals for walls are written and sold for commercial profit.

Success can come quickly but it can also disappear abruptly. Of course we all have our own interpretation of what success means and therefore only the individual photographer can set their own expectations of that word. However, once decided upon it is possible to achieve them, possible but not easy. Positive thought is required as is resilience and support from others, but don’t expect any of these to come from a few words constructed into an easy read soundbite.

Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Under Graduate and Post-Graduate Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of At Home With the Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006), Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019) and What Does Photography Mean to You? (Bluecoat 2020). 

His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was first screened in 2018 www.donotbendfilm.com and he is the presenter of the A Photographic Life and In Search of Bill Jay podcasts.

© Grant Scott 2023