Incoming Lucky Break

The importance of timing

I think this is an important topic that we should discuss more as artists and creatives in general: the importance of timing.

Some of you read my timeline last week, and I want to thank you for all your wonderful responses. A key part of that timeline, which I'm referring to today, happened just over a year ago. My beautiful girlfriend and I had just returned from four months in Europe, and I was more convinced than ever that fine art was my path. I planned to curate work, make photos, get them on gallery walls, and enter art competitions. I believed it was only a matter of getting the work seen by the right people before I inevitably "made" it.

Now, at 30, I often surprise myself with the naivety I've shown at certain moments—not in my belief that I will achieve what I set out to, as I genuinely believe I can and will. Rather, my naivety was about the timing. I believe you create your own reality and that focusing on your goals will lead you to achieve them. With my focus on success, I thought it was bound to happen. However, the key part I didn't account for in this otherwise flawless plan was the influence of Lady Luck and universal timing. I have zero control over when things happen. That was my mistake—I put all my eggs in one basket and expected it to happen within a specific time frame. That has only one outcome, and it’s something I've recently come face to face with: disappointment.

I made lots of work, did the exhibitions, emailed the galleries, visited the galleries, and entered competitions. I did everything I should have done to give myself the best chance of success, and it didn’t happen. This isn’t a sad post about not succeeding, because I have learned more about shooting and fine art in the last 12 months and am really happy with the work I have created and am creating. I just needed to realise that I can't control when I get my "big break." Truthfully, it could happen in three months, three years, or 30 years. I don’t think it’s the point of what I really want to achieve in my life. It’s part of it, as I do want to go as high as I can go. I just need to remove the "when" from the equation, because that isn’t always up to me. I can have the best work in the world, but if I'm not selling well, a gallery might not pick it up. I could produce the best art in a competition, but other work might be more relevant at that point in time. These are factors beyond my control, and what I can control, I am doing as much as I can.

There’s another reason I bring this up: don’t pigeonhole yourself into what you're trying to become and miss out on what you love to do along the way. I love my fine art work and what I shoot, but truthfully, it doesn’t make me money (yet). I have invested a lot of time, effort, and resources into trying to get that off the ground, so I have ignored the other aspects of photography I love. I love working with people, capturing people, setting up images, and taking photos of people in ways they don’t see themselves. I love looking at body language and positioning people to bring out the best version of themselves in the image. In pursuing fine art, I completely stopped shooting these kinds of works. Realising this recently with some great conversations with Cassie Wilkins (check her out) made me realise that I can, in fact, do both.

Even when I am my busiest with fine art, I am often dictated by weather, model availability, finding props, scouting locations, etc. As someone who loves to keep busy, I really missed doing portraits, so I have been stepping into that more and more over the past few weeks, and it’s been amazing. It feels like I am even closer to where I want to be by continuing to work hard on fine art and making time for other work I love, like taking photos of people and doing it my way. Another bonus of going hard on fine art is that I’ve learned not only what I like to shoot but also how. So now, with my portraits, I am really taking my time and creating a frame instead of just taking it.

To anyone out there trying to reach a higher level in what you do, do not forget about timing. You will be surprised at how many big breaks happen after ten years of work, or how many people get lucky and "make it" when the right person sees their work. Do not get disheartened if it’s not working right away. Keep improving, keep pushing yourself, and whatever you do, please don’t stop creating.

Some recent work I have done.