I think I found my why……maybe
I’ve talked about this so many times, but it’s always felt like a work in progress something just on the tip of my tongue. Now, I think I’m finally at the point where I can share it with you.
How I Got Here
Two weeks ago, I said I didn’t think I had ever been in a better place with my work, my art, and the three hats I tend to wear most often. I still stand by that. It led to some really meaningful conversations about where I’ve been, where I’m heading, and how aligned everything feels.
Then last week, I made the rookie mistake of listening to Simon Sinek. If you’ve come across his work, you’ll know he wrote Start With Why and is the one of my favourite podcast guests. He has this incredible way of cutting through the noise and saying things as they are. No fluff, no ego. Just truth. He’s also writing a book on friendship, which I can’t wait to read.
Every time I listen to him, I come back to the same question: what’s my why?
Photography Is What I Do, But Not Why I Do It
I take photos. I love what I do. But taking beautiful photos isn’t my why. The camera is just a tool for something much more important.
Let me take you through the journey that helped me understand that more.
Five Exhibitions, Lots of Prints, Few Sales
I’ve been a professional photographer for five years and have held five solo exhibitions.
2019: A photo book on Vietnam, one of my favourite places
2021: A Cape to Cape exhibition about multi-day hiking in WA
2022: My biggest exhibition, focused on street photography
2023: Another street-focused show
2024: Aussie Kulture, a tongue-in-cheek look at stereotypes
I thought these exhibitions were about selling work. But here’s how they actually went:
Vietnam: sold 5 of 25 prints sold, 12/150 books sold
Cape to Cape: sold 6/15 - A3s, about 20/150 - 6x4s
Finding Your Way: sold 4 of 16 professionally framed prints
Look and See: sold 2 prints
Aussie Kulture: sold 0 prints
If sales were the measure, I wasn’t doing very well. And I kept asking myself: why do I keep doing this?
The Realisation: It Was Never About Sales
After every show, especially after spending sixteen thousand on one show, I was left with the same question. But looking back, I can see the reason was always there, just buried under the pressure to succeed.
Vietnam: A love letter to a place I hoped others would visit
Cape to Cape: A celebration of an accessible, local adventure for anyone and all fitness levels
Finding Your Way: A story about walking away from the corporate world and the joy of finding the thing you love
Look and See: A reminder that seeing is different to looking
Aussie Kulture: A playful, satirical take on identity and image
I thought I was doing them to sell prints. But I was actually doing them to say something, to offer something, to connect.
My Why Is In Connection
That word has been sitting with me a lot.
Whether it’s exhibitions or portrait shoots, it always comes back to the same thing:
Being present with someone. Showing them as they truly are.
Not how they think they are, or what they want to project but how they are, really.
Connection is my why.
If someone connects with the work, or feels something because of it, that’s enough. That’s everything.
Sales are out of my control. But holding space for someone to experience something, that is where my strength lies. That is where my why lives.
Gaoth and Creating Space
This has become even clearer with my latest project, Gaoth.
I love the images I’ve created, but something has always felt missing. Showing a series about wind in complete stillness was leaving something on the table. But when I lean into the interactive side of it, when I create opportunities for movement, feeling, and immersion I make more space and opportunity for connection.
And that’s what it’s about.
Launching Amble Post
This same idea applies to something else I’m working on and I want to share it with you here first.
A while ago, I launched a print shop on Instagram. I hated it. I was posting to no one, hearing nothing back. It felt just like the silence after an exhibition.
But I wasn’t wrong about the idea. I was just doing it the wrong way.
I’ve always loved physical prints, the texture of paper, the weight of it in your hand. I’ve always loved writing too. And since getting a typewriter, that love has come back in full force.
So I’ve launched Amble Post a kind of print club. Each month, I’ll send out a physical print and a handwritten note, story, recipe, or thought. Something that relates to the image, or something beautiful I heard, saw, or wrote.
The first print gets sent out on the 1st of September. You’re the first to hear about it. If you’ve missed physical prints and handwritten letters, I hope you’ll check it out here.
Amble Post
It All Comes Back to This
This is why I started writing this in the first place.
It’s all about connection.
It’s about creating a space for someone to feel something, take something, or see something differently.
It’s about holding something real in your hands.
It’s about looking at art and feeling like someone else gets it, or gets you.
It’s reading a letter and remembering you’re not alone.
It’s the quiet knowing that even if just for a moment, you were part of something that mattered.
That’s my why.
To create space for connection not just with the work, but with each other.
And if something I make can offer that, then I’ve done what I came here to do.
Do you know your why?
Love to all,
Adam
Love this! It isn't always easy to dig deep and peel back all those layers - especially the ones that get to the core of why we do what we do - but it is helpful. Amble Post looks great, too! Proud of you x