Chasing Praise

Photographers and other artists are prone to chasing praise. We want others to tell us how wonderful our work is, how it makes them think or feel; what emotions it evokes. And pretty much any work of art, from a child's abstract scribble to the Mona Lisa will do this.

For all of the persons who love our work, there will be some who will dislike it. The flip side of seeking praise, is learning to live with criticism. It is going to happen. 

Praise can lull us into a false sense of competency, and praise can slam us hard into a wall of doubt about our abilities and taste. I worked with a women who produced trainings, when the programs were over she would go through the attendee evaluations, and toss out the top 10%, those that said everything was perfect and nothing could be improved upon, and the bottom 10% that hated everything and thought that a trained monkey could do a better job.  Wise counsel, discount the extremes of praise and criticism.  Between the two, there may be ideas that help us to create. 

I was in a meeting recently with a group of artists. I commented that my painting will never win any awards, and one of the most accomplished artists in the group said, "David, don't discount your work" he continued saying that "his work accumulated in the back of closets for decades until he was brave enough to show it." He has won many awards and sells enough to keep him working every year.