I Don’t Love This
Photographers are too sensitive
Photographers are too sensitive.
It’s possible that I am the one who’s too sensitive, actually, but that seems awfully revealing so I’ll ascribe the trait to photographers broadly so I won’t feel so alone.
See? I’m really sensitive.
So when a client said to me the other day, “I don’t love this,” it bothered me.
It wasn’t the entire shoot they were complaining about, or even a big chunk of it. We did a dozen different shots. “I don’t love this” was directed at one in particular.
What can I say? They can’t all be winners. It wasn’t like it was unusable. It was fine. It just didn’t have the wow factor I’d managed to jam into the other images. So they just wanted to ensure I understood clearly: “I don’t love this.”
The problem, I have realized, is that my identity as a human is too closely intertwined with my identity as a photographer. Probably because this photographic practice has been part of my life since childhood. If you’ve always been “the guy with the camera” then what does it mean when you aren’t very good at using the damn thing? Or when, after all this time, you’re still not perfect?
That’s how the little dig felt, anyway. The client didn’t say I’m not moved by this picture. Maybe they meant to, and just wanted to be sure I knew for some reason? What I heard was even simpler: “You are bad.”
Am I wrong to find something sort of passive aggressive in the phrase? What’s to be gained from expressing mild but cutting displeasure? It’s a reasonable critique, so why am I so annoyed?
Because photographers are way too sensitive.
Aside from this short essay serving to blow off steam about something that irks me — irrationally, I know — it does make me wonder, what are people thinking when they say this kind of thing? When they go to dinner and order baked chicken and steamed broccoli, are they expecting to be moved to song? This was that. The client very specifically ordered, among other dishes, the photographic version of baked chicken and steamed broccoli. I cooked it perfectly and they remained unmoved. Should they ask to speak to the chef to let him know they were unimpressed?
It would be one thing if I’d seriously dropped the ball and the shot was unusable. But no, it’s just “Hey, I wanted to let you know, I don’t love this.”
They don’t want it fixed, they don’t want a discount1 They just wanted to make sure I knew they weren’t 100% thrilled. They were 7% mildly unimpressed.
But isn’t 93% still an A+?
The bigger question is, why does petty stuff like this bug me so much that I’m willing to rant an essay about it?
I think it’s because photographers are too sensitive. I don’t love this.
Well, technically that remains to be seen. I haven’t yet sent the invoice.
"Keep your identity small" is the best advice I've heard in the last few years.
Oh they are for sure getting dumber. And caring less. For those of us who still care, it’s hard to swallow.