What is your purpose? and why do you need it?

We’ve been working on our purpose a lot lately. I guess that could sound like a really big scary thing.. but honestly, I feel it’s important for all of us.

Last year we worked along with Kayte Ferris and have recently worked again with her ‘purpose kit’. Just to give you an idea why we still review this every couple of months - here is a quote from the kit

‘Purpose is the coming together of what you believe, the impact you want to make in the world and how you can feel most fulfilled’ - Kayte Ferrris, SImple and Season

This is exactly why we like to return to our purpose, our ‘WHY’ if you like, more than a once a year.

The idea is that having a purpose, something that runs along underneath everything that you do with your life and work, will mean that you can create more useful and valuable work and also feel happy within yourself doing just that.

Going through the process ourselves has really highlighted how useful it could be for others too, so when we speak in our course about how to find your own photography style, finding your purpose can also be so integral to this journey.

To me it feels like a constant level of guidance, a belief that you can carry around with you daily which influences the choices you make, the actions you take and will help you to have a greater inner direction and understanding.

Sure there’s more to it than just that, but I wanted to give you a little insight so that you can decide for yourself if this would work for you too.

So how does purpose work when we think of photography? Because there are so many genres of it and so many opportunities to work within different fields, (A lot of which we have done in the past and have experience of) some days it’s hard to know what is right for you.

Many people follow a path they THINK is right for them to become a photographer, lots turn to wedding photography in the beginning, or families, or products and then find later that it’s not quite right for them. Because without your purpose, your reason for doing what you do everyday.. it’s just another genre, another job you can try to mould yourself into. This could be said for many different kinds of jobs, not just being a photographer.

When we teach about ‘finding your style’ this is so very connected with your purpose. In the beginning they may seem like worlds apart, and pulling them together can be quite a challenge to get started, but this is why we ask you to work on your purpose first… the things that really make you tick and get you all excited about life. THEN you can work these into your genuine style and feel completely comfortable that this is you and how you want to represent yourself.

The camera can be your eyes and your whole self, if you know how to make it work for you. it can be How you tell the story of what you see, and how you feel it.

Shooting with feeling is the way we teach photography. The technicalities will come in along the way, there’s no doubt about it, but you need to know why you want to shoot something, and how you want to tell that story in photographs. What is the POWER and the IMPACT you want to make on your audience. What do you want to tell them about?

We begin in this way so that you can connect with your real reason for taking photographs. So that when you are creating images that they have heart and soul in them and you can take joy from each day you shoot.

Doing the work into finding your purpose may feel overwhelming in the beginning, but take it slowly, ask yourself questions around who you want to work for? and what do you want to be known for? and everything will slowly unravel. Take your time with it, and re-visit from time to time. You will be amazed at where this takes you!

If you would like to work on this a little more - you can follow Kayte Ferris and her wonderful ‘Purpose Kit’

J&J x