It's definitely possible that I underestimated the power of the written word. Due to my struggles in school I was always made to feel a little less than good enough, not as smart as the other kids etc... and so, I never took to writing, or reading for that matter because well, if I'm dyslexic and less than the other kids, then ill leave it to those smart guys. 

It wasn't until, wait for it, covid 19, that I actually picked up a few books and read them from front to back. Sure it took me a while to get through each book but it's not a race. I took my time and absorbed all that I was reading and I really felt that this new information and consumption of a new medium really gave me a new inspiration and outlook on the thing that I was so immersed in, Photography. 

Whenever I let the house with camera in hand, I was brimming with creative juices that the books had got flowing. Looking at the world almost through different eyes. Dare I say it, I felt smart for the first time in my life and with that I kind of gained a creative confidence. I would think to myself, wait a moment you are smart enough to have seen that shot or picked that interesting angle, almost like I was now giving myself a creative freedom due to my new found intelligence. Crazy as it sounds, I think there is something in this. 

So, as I kept shooting I felt my images getting better but not only that I started thinking about them a little more deeply and wanting to put some text with them. That is what led me to start my first blog a few years back. I think that period of time was one of the best for my photography in terms of growth and speed at which I felt I was improving. Writing for my photography really helped me level up and I think it's a special piece in the artistic journey, thinking about and adding context to your work. 

At the time, it was Fujifeels that I was working on (my old page and name on IG and website) and was even fortunate enough to have a few magazines, Fuji X passion most notably, want to feature what I was writing and have my images sit along side that text. Not only that, I even collaborated with various photographers around the world who wanted to add some text to their images and have them live on my website and blog. Now that was a huge privilege and something I just would not have believed if you had told me that would happen a few years prior. 

That is a crazy story of how starting a blog and writing helped me improve my photography and also opened so many doors that would have remained firmly closed had I continued on my self deprecating journey. You might ask then, "Arran. Why the hell did you stop writing". 

Well I think honestly I was just trying to do too much all at once. I was full time at a school, shooting commercial photography jobs on the side during weekends and then editing those images in the evenings all at the same time as trying to build and write my blog and shoot as much street and travel photography content as I possibly could. Hello burnout, and goodbye blogging!

This time around I'm determined to do things differently which take me onto the next point in this blog post. 

Now I am armed with so much experience both in life and also within photography I feel much better equipped to be starting this somewhat new journey with my photography. For starters I don't feel the need or want to be trying to push out content once, or twice a week. I would sooner wait for the work to be ready or the inspiration to strike before I push out work and burn myself out.

These days I''m definitely feeling far more drawn to story and shooting images for that reason rather than going in search of single images that I can potentially write about. I think that is coming from a place of being less concerned with social media and instant gratification or success that IG or other platforms offer. The idea of shooting for and working towards a larger story or a project is much more exciting to me than getting a few likes on the socials.

Photographing for the writing gives you a totally different outlook when you have the camera in hand. I don't think its best practice to work that way all the time, however it can really sharpen your senses and force you to look harder for the images that will accompany the writing or story you have in mind. I think this mindset is similar to how projects are a great way to improve your photography. It's the sharpening of your focus and looking that little bit harder at what you're photographing rather than spraying and praying. 

This year, 2025, will be focused on my working towards a selection of stories that really interest me. Hopefully other people will find some interest in them too but first and foremost these stories get me excited. I have the overview of each story in mind already and even have some of the text written for some of the stories and so I know or at least have a good idea of the images that I need for each story to have the impact I want. I am PHOTOGRAPHING FOR THE WRITING!

Another thing that became apparent to me over the past few years is that all the photographers I look up to are story based photographers, photojournalists and documentarians. They produce bodies of work over single images. I make no secret of my love for National Geographic and how my absolute dream would be to have some of my photographs featured within their website or magazine. Most of my favorite photographers have shot and featured with nat geo. 

If I ever want to get to that level, then I need to learn and improve my story telling with my images. To do that, I need to be looking at stories and having text that accompanies the images so I have a clear direction in which to go. The stories I have planned and want to shoot towards and complete in 2025 will hopefully find their way into some publications and help me push towards my end goal of shooting for and working with National Geographic. 

I definitely feel an excitement towards my photography that I haven't really ever felt before. I do think that has a lot to do with the thinking of and writing stories that I want to have my photography sit along side. Does that mean that I want to become equally a writer as a photographer? Well that I am not really sure of at this moment in time because I think both aspects of my work need improvement. One thing I do know is that Photography and Writing go hand in hand and they are definitely a match made in heaven. 

Thank you for reading, 

Arran.