When I was actively and passionately pursuing my career in photography I realized something, "I would never be the best photographer in the world."
While this might seem like a pessimistic outlook, it is important to remember that when the game is defined so narrowly, there can really is only one winner. I mean the definition of "the best" is singular.
I saw this on the Netflix series "Break Point" which interviewed many up and coming stars in the tennis world. Many bemoaned the difficulty of winning a competition and that everyone in the competition would ultimately be a loser except for the one winning individual. To compete on that level (top 100 in the world) and live with the reality of that outcome repeated over and over again is already an incredible feat that requires the highest level of psychological fortitude and perseverance. Furthermore when you consider that even Raphael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novac Djokovic still lose to each other while being literally the best in tennis (as they have been for decades), then it is even more important to realize that being "the best" is rare and virtually impossible.
If you asked me, "Who is the best photographer in the world"? I would honestly have no clue how to answer that question. I can name a few historically legendary photographers such as Annie Liebowitz, Helmut Newton, and Patrick Demarchelier. But could I pick just one? Probably not. How do you compare photographers if not through a narrowly constrained photography contest? Even then it depends on who the judges are that would determine the winner.
This is why I have never limited myself to competing on the pictures itself. That would be a disservice to myself. Why would I limit myself to compete on the one level that I already know that I am not the best? Why would I not include all the other incredibly valuable traits and characteristicsc that I possess, in order to create greater success as a photographer?
So that's exactly what I did. I leveraged my background in customer care/support, my degrees and experience in business, combined with my love of sharing and teaching... all to complement my photography skills to build (what was then) an incredibly viable business teaching fashion photography workshops. At the time, teaching fashion photography workshops was still niche and the market was not nearly as saturated as it is today. Therefore I had a wonderful opportunity to design a series of classes and build the LUCIMA brand on the back of my education platform. I am grateful that I had the pleasure of playing this game at a very high level. For my very first workshop, I charged $600 per person and I only got 1.5 students (two students over a weekend but one student only attended one day). Only a couple years later, my workshops cost $2000 per photographer, one where I took 18 students and shot at Eric Lloyd Wright's unfinished mansion in Malibu.
The irony is that when I became a photographer I thought my income would consist of shooting models and selling my work to magazines. Both were quickly dismissed as viable revenue streams because 1) models don't have much money and 2) magazines were facing extinction with digital content taking over the world. So only nine months after I declared myself a professional photographer, I started teaching fashion photography workshops.
Incidentally, this is the same design philosophy I employ to consult all my photographer students as they venture into becoming professional photographers in their specific locale. With each private workshop I would sit down with photographers that would come far and wide (usually out-of-state but sometimes even from Europe) to consult with me on how they would be able to succeed as photogrpahers back home. I always tried to find out what the photographer is interested in, what they're good at, where they live, and determine what markets and services they could explore in creating a differentiated product/service back home. Usually this came down to venturing away from crowded fields such as shooting high fashion in small markets because that's usually where the highest level of competition could be found. Instead we focused on the underserved markets e.g. pet photography, underwater photography, school yearbook pictures, boudoir photogrpahy, where the photographer has some competitive advantage and could dominate the field quickly and succesfully. My goal was always to position the photographer in a way that would yeild results swiftly so that he/she could then break some of the more competitive arenas (such as high fashion) to increase clout and price per sale (which usually required more branding and reputation).
This is interestingly enough the same design philosohpy I use to consult all startups as a venture capital investor. Startups tend to already have a good idea of what they bring to the table but at least in Taiwan I have found that the founders might be overly focused on their technical prowess without spending enough time to find the right application for their expertise/technology. The design stage of a startup's life is often the most critical point because misalignment of product/service to the market will make or break the business. I have personally invested in businesses that have bet their entire outcome on their technology only to find that the market does not value (enough) their technological differentiation. These failed/failing startups should have instead spent more time and care selling their product/service, creating more sales channels, and/or creating a greater vision and dream of how they can change the world.
The point I'm trying to make is that success (almost) never comes down to just one thing.
Even when people are the best at one single thing, it might not be enough. They might lose to someone who works harder and has more perseverance. Or they might might lose to someone who can pivot away from the original requirements and find a better application/niche. Or they might lose to time because they burn themselves out.
Case in point, I saw this time and time again while shooting fashion. There were superstar models that were incredibly beautiful but if they had a reputation for being difficult to work with, they would lose out on jobs to models that were easier to work with. I have personally passed on many incredibly beautiful models during casting because I had firsthand experience that they were unreliable, difficult, or just plain rude to work with. Even though they might create more powerful images, I would choose someone who had a slightly lesser look and worked twice as hard because at the end of the day, I can not bet a client's shoot on an unreliable model. When I am being paid to deliver a product or service, my team must be equally dependable and professional. I don't care if you have "the best look" because that is completely useless to me if I can't actually capture that look on my camera because you're late, you're pissing everyone off, and/or you're not putting in 100%.
Let me bring this point home. You see all these really hot girls on Instagram? I am not even talking about AI (fake) girls. I'm talking about the really good-looking girls that unfortunately offer no other value than some visual stimualation. You know, the ones that are just serving tits and ass. They might have hundreds of thousands of followers but the truth is these accounts (and the influencers behind them) have a hard time monetizing their audience. I should know because I have a similar audience. A lot of young men who don't have much disposable income and follow lots of hot chicks. This doesn't help me or the hot girls that share the same audience. The problem is that brands are looking for engagement to sell their products/services and unfortunately when your engagement consists of "you're hot" and "I love your tits", well that's just not very convincing to brands looking to spend marketing dollars. True engagement spans more than a couple seconds. True engagement is more than one-line comments that don't create a engaging conversation. True engagement from followers is a loyalty to the influencer that can actually be monetized.
This is what brands are looking for. And this is what really hot girls lack.
But aren't they the hottest girls on Instagram? They just might be. Hell, they might even become a trophy wife (or side chick) for some shallow guy. But you know in your heart of hearts that these perfect 10s will likely lose out in the long-run to an 8 with brains and a personality. I assure you an 8 with brains and a business model will completely destroy a perfect 10 if the time horizon is more than 5 minutes. I should know because I've worked with 9s and 10s that left me wanting to punch myself in the dick out of boredom.
They say life is unfair but I maintain that life is a lot more fair than we give it credit for. We so often look at people who are blessed with god-given talents and think that they must be crushing it in life. That the world bends over backwards for them and worships the ground they walk on. Maybe a little. Especially in the beginning. But I assure you, it's not enough to just be blessed with raw talent. Ask Michael Jordan and Stephan Curry. Raw talent does not usually equal long-term success. Sometimes it's opposite. It's the ones that are hungry, driven, persistent, and determined to succeed that are written into history... against all odds. These are the people that prove time and time again that a person's value far exceeds any single attribute. Raw talent is cheap and time usually reveals that hard work trumps raw talent any day of the week.
The idea of being a singular best is misguided at best. Maybe instead of being the best in any one single dimension, we should strive to be the most complete? To create the most value. Because when considering any singular dimension there is likely always someone better than you. The better challenge is to become unique and create a value proposition that is irreplaceable.
That's how you win.
