Is criticism necessarily a bad thing for a photographer? Does it mean you should give up? Does it mean you are not good, or there’s more to learn about your craft? This and many more are what we would be addressing in this article.
The internet and with civic rights, people are allowed to express their dissatisfaction and displeasure over what they feel or think and criticize your work(s) for many different reasons. There are well-meaning ones who give unbiased feedback that aim to help the person improve their craft or give due affirmation. There are people who simply just react without giving any kind of input about the work in question, and there are people who speak out and give criticism because they see it as a way to boost their own ego. It is important to assess the validity of the statements before we allow criticism to affect us as photographers. Hence, criticism is not showing that you’re not good enough rather it is showing you as a photographer that there’s a chance to do more or get better at the craft.
A crucial step in dealing with criticism is verifying its true nature. As a photographer, you want to know and determine if the point is even valid before you let it affect you and consider what it suggests. You first need to understand if the comment aims to express an opinion and a better way of photographing or just a random dislike or dislike of your personality. After all these, you will be able to determine generally whether the chunk of criticism is right or wrong. So photographers should have it in mind that criticism is non-negotiable but it’s not in sucking on it and allowing it to affect your craft, rather it’s in getting better and improving your craft and learning more.
