Lesson Learned #14-...Only More So

Doubling Down On Who You Are

I’ve often been called out for my fastidiousness. When I was 5 years old our pediatrician came over for a house call. (I’ve been around since doctors made house calls!!) Apparently, when he came up to see me I was scurrying about straightening my bedroom. He saw this and said, “My, but he’s a tidy little fellow!”.

Try as I might, I can’t shake this fastidiousness. I load the dishwasher with precision, make the bed every morning, keep my studio organized - that kind of thing. Then one day I was reading about a colleague, a hugely successful photographer whom I greatly admire, and discovered - he’s worse than I am! Turns out, in the world of commercial photographers at least, my obsessiveness is small potatoes. When I read this I felt both a sense of relief and an urge to avenge all those people who’ve given me grief over the years. This reminded me of something my father used to say, “An artist is just like everybody else, only more so.”

I learned, VERY late in my career, ‘Don’t apologize for being who you are!’ If anything, Double Down. (Unless you’re an a-hole, which I’ll write about in a different post.)

Since it now seems that revealing our personalities has become a requirement for getting noticed and that being “demure” ain’t what it used to be, perhaps it’s time you learned to milk your quirks. As clichéd as “Be Yourself” may sound (versus - “milk your quirks” - which I’ll wager has never been said before), I think it’s acutely relevant.

Obviously, if you’re thinking of going into this business, there must be something wrong with you; Obsessive? Short attention span? Scatter-brained? A little neurotic? Hyper-sensitive? Aggressive? etc. etc. The temptation to correct some or all of these traits has likely crossed your mind at some point (i.e. around Senior Prom) however, I’m recommending you consider any adjustments carefully. The trait that seemed like a liability in grade school could end up being just the thing that separates your work from everyone else’s in the best way possible.

The tricky part - some quirks can be disastrous. If you’re disorganized, that’s going to be a BIG problem unless you’re working with people who are buttoned up. If you’re pathologically shy you’ll need bold people around you to get things done. If, however, you’re a controlling narcissist with OCD… you’ll be just fine.

One of the best things about assisting (see Lesson Learned #3) is observing up close how photographers operate; Some will be nice, some will be… not so nice, some will be overbearing and some relatively chill. Chances are, if a photographer has a successful track record, they are who they are with very little apology. Hopefully, you’ll find someone you admire and want to emulate. The best way to be like them isn’t to be like them, but to be like you. Only more so.