Borrowed Eyes

Left behind

Living by the beach has its foibles, the strangest of which is the amount of stuff the trippers leave behind! Honestly we could start a shop for people with no underwear, left shoes, right shoes, swim hats, goggles, sun and reading glasses. You would think a giant shark had attacked the beach and people fled for their lives but no, in the rush to get back to their accomodation they lose focus as kids demand ice cream, parents burnt pink with too much beer and sunshine seem confused by how much stuff they delivered to the beach that they simply overlook items that have strayed outside the beachcamp. Thankfully the early morning dog walkers collect all the items an pile them up in the hope they will be reclaimed or become a source of inspiration for a photographer

Hi,

Photographers are a peculiar tribe, always wanting to be unique but with a huge fear of missing out, then there’s the jealousy associated with seeing others success and the comparison that utterly destroys the enjoyment of the craft.

I’ve lived in a world where every image you create is compared and judged against the images made by others. As a news photographer, at every level from the Daventry Express where I started to the News Team agency, Manchester Evening News, Reuters and The Times, every image is judged by editors who are always searching for something better. I have also been the person searching for something better, putting pressure on my photographers as Picture Editor of The Times to do better, get closer, whatever it was that I was searching for that I had yet to find.

One of the things I have noticed most as a photographer is that we are essentially insecure creatives, we doubt ourselves first, last and always!

I have watched photographers virtually stand on top of one another to get a picture that one person saw, photographers crowd around subjects like flies often without thinking about their own point of view.

This is especially prevalent in workshops and photowalks, where one person will see something and then others will check out what it was they may have missed, eagerly shooting over the shoulders of those in front.

Don’t get me wrong, it is good to approach another photographer with curiosity to see what or why they are making photographs, to ask questions and look at their image.

However mindlessly making images because someone else has is a simple and fast route to disappointment in your own work.

In every group, every photographer is unconsciously being influenced by the other members, and it will often result in photographers not making images they were drawn to because they doubted their ability while everyone was crowding round another photographer’s idea.

Creativity takes concentration, it requires a sense of solitude where you can be with, and become engaged with your subject. Your eye and heart will be enchanted by something that only you can see or feel, when others are nearby it is easy to get distracted or to become doubtful of your vision.

I have always encouraged people to go their own way on my retreats, because I have watched it happen too many times. Someone photographs a scene simply because someone else raised a camera first. Nobody was copying on purpose, nobody would even have noticed themselves doing it, but another person’s attention was quietly becoming their own.

The healthy alternative is to create alone and edit or review together.

Create alone so you can follow your own curiosity without comparison, conversation or someone else’s direction pulling at your elbow. Then, once the pictures exist, meet with other photographers to edit, select and sequence the work.

That is when another eye becomes genuinely useful, not before.

Someone who wasn’t there when you made the image can see the attachments and the repetitions you can’t. They can tell you, kindly, which images you’re only keeping because you remember how it felt to make them, not because the image itself says anything. That isn’t a threat to your solitude. It’s what solitude earns you the right to hear afterwards.

For years as a news photographer, more experienced photographers would review my work, advise and guide me as to which images to choose and how to crop them. This is valuable and insightful because it is hard to detach yourself from your work, especially if you have had to battle to make the photographs.

Creation needs concentration. Editing benefits from a little confrontation. They are two different jobs, and asking one to do the work of the other rarely serves either well.

So here is what I’d invite you to try.

Next time you’re out with your camera, meet with a friend who shares your hobby. Go to your location together, then split up and work alone, even if it’s just for half an hour. Don’t check what they are photographing, don’t explain yourself to anyone, just follow whatever has caught your eye until it’s finished with you.

Then, once you’ve made something, meet up and share your work. Not for reassurance, not for praise, but for their honest, slightly detached eye, the one you can no longer bring to your own work.

Listen to what they say, be open to their opinion, don’t be defensive and certainly not aggressive or despondent. Use it as a learning curve.

Many photographers, myself included, get so attached to their work that they can’t see the wood for the trees. If you can view your own photographs with the same open-minded curiosity you bring to the subject itself, you will begin to notice the refinements needed: a subtle crop, gentle post processing, or even going back and trying again.

Being able to look at another person’s images and offer your thoughts will also give you greater confidence in your own judgement, of art in general and of your own work too.

Two different acts. Both necessary. Neither one a substitute for the other.

Thank you for your time today

Best wishes

Paul

An Invitation to Pause: Autumn, Stillness and the Art of Making.

Be guided through a day of mindful photography & the meditative process of Japanese Stab Binding, taking the handcrafted keepsake away.

September 30th 2026 0930 - 1700

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