I see this a lot on social media where they act as if they are some famous hotshot photographer. Even worse when they try to be "fashionable". Covered in shitty tattoos, or dressing in "vintage fashion" from the 50s or 60s pretending to be a beatnic.
The post is usually something like
>people always tell me they want to live in my photos
then proceed to post the basic, uninteresting, over-edited garbage I've ever seen
It just makes them come off as very narcissistic, while every photographer I've ever met irl has been super nice. Is this just people hamming it up for their social media or are these retards just so full of themselves?
Why does photography attract so many unlikable and self-absorbed people?
I bet all of them use canon dslr lmao
It seems like a disproportionate number of them shoot either Canon or Sony, but I've seen all brands represented at one point this way, except Pentax.
Its a strange mix for sure.
I find tons of chill photographers on flickr who just do their thing with no drama but then you run into a photographer with a 200 word essay on their profile about who they let follow them and if anybody follows them who isnt x, y, z , a , b , c and d they will block them.
like fuck off mate you are just a page of photos on flickr, nobody is reading that shit or caring about your rules.
Flickr at least doesnt have that many of them but I imagine instagram has tons.
Ultimately, its the same shit in every hobby, get into surfing and you will have fuckwits trying to get the best waves and block other people from them and thinking they are better more deserving or whatever.
One thing I have noticed with these types of people, they are usually pretty half arsed commitment wise and burn out and fuck off from the hobby pretty quickly too.
>One thing I have noticed with these types of people, they are usually pretty half arsed commitment wise and burn out and fuck off from the hobby pretty quickly too.
I think that's because they aren't actually interested in any hobby, what they're actually interested in is recognition and being praised. When they don't achieve that fairly quickly they either move on and try to strike it big in another hobby or they become the 200 word essay guy, trying to filter out anyone who won't worship them.
>They still must be assholes if they are not hobbyist and actually make their income from photography, just that they can't lower their guard in real life.
Well none of those people except one ever made money from their photography itself, but even that one person had a day job.
I guess you are right in that in order to be a social media photographer you do need to be a narcissist, or rather the skill set to be successful on a social media platform requires narcissism.
I take pictures of birds and animals, I I don't even attempt to get into the other side of photography because it's full of vapid self absorbed weirdos.
I’ve honestly never seen this, but then again, I don’t interact with the photography community much.
what kind of photography do these people take? street?
Weddings lmao
the most boring and skillless kind of photography
You have to have a massive ego in order to thrive in an industry that has absolutely zero value for anyone but money launderers and fart huffers.
It's the same in any kind of art. Same reason why musicians hate people pirating, plagiarism etc. Same reason artists always deliver stuff that looks like absolute shit but still have the gall to ask money for it.
>every photographer irl has been super nice
They still must be assholes if they are not hobbyist and actually make their income from photography, just that they can't lower their guard in real life.
Think about it. Would you have the drive to keep working on whatever you do knowing that you're shit at your job, that anyone else does it better, that you're producing nothing of value anyways? Could you keep working to the day your skills actually improve if you keep shitting on yourself?
No. Being a narcissist is a must.
Being a narc is not a must
All you have to do is NOT be a beta bitch with an inferiority complex
>noooooo i am not the best i am always unhappy with myself i do not deserve anything not even to try nooooooo i cant go on nooooo -you
Holy fuck no one thinks like this you beaten down omega buttslut
A narc always thinks they are the best
A beta can not imagine accepting anything but the best and they never think they are so they hide in their basement
A normal person knows they arent the best but they do the work and get paid anyways
Betas can not comprehend the normal person, they must be narcissists or self flagellating because all the beta can imagine is betas and narcs
Because you can’t sell artistic work by itself on social media. Normies are not interested in photography in and of itself, and most forms of art online are oversaturated.
You have to develop a persona and become an influencer. For some people that means acting like the know-it-all fashionfag photo guy who posts more photos of his face than his actual work.
Why would you base someone solely on their fashion and confidence as a photographer as a bad photographer?
You have it backwards. They have a lot of bravado and confidence despite being bad.
Insecurity. Professional photographers typically are losers who can’t get a real degree and don’t have the constitution to do a blue collar job. They don’t want to have a boss and want to do their own thing, which typically is smoking a lot of weed. Photography allows you to smoke a lot of weed and do your own thing and barely get by doing something pretty fun and creative.
Their ego comes from their insecure mixed with the fact that photography is dead simple. A few weeks of practice and watching YouTube videos and you’ll be taking professional looking photos with a simple “real” setup. It’s that easy and simple but they like to act like it’s more complicated than it is because they are insecure and never had another way to one-up their blue and white collar acquaintances.
projection
projection
they are hamming it up for social media because they dont want to wageslave or starve
it's the same in every online subgroup. cars, bikes, watches, computers, combat sports and so on. a smaller subgroup within the subgroup have soo little else going on that they become their interest and start acting funny. the conclusion of which depends on the demographics and culture within the specific group
I tend to notice this a fair bit on social media when people put "Photographer" or gearfag in their bio about what camera they're using. Most people I've come across with pretty much no captions or information anywhere besides a name tend to be incredibly chill/humble. The less info the better. They just post their photos for people to look at and nothing more.
I do add the name of the film stock just for people that are looking for results of said film stock
And that's perfectly cool since it genuinely helps people. I'll sometimes add information about a lens or settings, but only if people explicitly ask for them.
I never understood, why do people post what gear they're using and settings and shit?
If it's like a bird in flight year maybe the shutter speed and apature setting would be some useful info but people do it with street photography all the time.
They want you to know that they have a super expensive camera and lens to provide the illusion that they are professional and above you. Clearly, the more your shit is worth the better you are. A simply novice would never spend $6,000 on gear, so they're obviously the real deal.
However, I have seen some guys with multiple bodies often post which one they're using at the time and will answer questions people have about what they're looking to buy.
copying metadata into an instagram caption is top tier homosexualry
nobody gives a fuck about your ISO and aperture. i think it makes normies see a bunch of numbers so they think its complex
Photography went from a fun hobby and something you can do professionally to creating a pretentious persona online for engagement.
But those people always existed even before social media. I blame the rise in smart phone technology for everyone who even touches a camera considering themselves a photographer. Normies just see bokeh and better photos than their phones could take and assume some amateur is some artistic master.
Inferiority complex: they are poor as fuck and anyone can master their skill in less than a year.
Social media in general is toxic af. I networked more in the last two days working with people I ran into at the springs in Florida than in the last 6 months on social media. Met some chill ass people and some other underwater photographers and had just overall a great time.
Social media is just a huge pissing contest, it's a bunch of people who peaked in high school and are trying to hold on to their popularity. Most of it is fake and in the last few years has become hijacked by politicians and corporate interests. Most of the profiles are fake or bots or people from Nigeria or India trying to scam you.
Social media isn't about networking anymore, it's about maximizing your engagement time to sell you the maximum amount of ads and it will use its algorithm to show you whatever increases that time.
tl;dr: go outside