Why it's important to speak openly online

Understanding what people would really like to read on a photography blog has been quite a journey.

I guess when we started out 7 or 8 years ago, it was more just a few words here and there to support the photographs, we didn’t really want to distract too much from the photography work and it can be tough to know what people out there want to read. A total minefield in some cases, where do you start?

I think over the past few years we’ve learned more than anything, that if we can add value to our readers lives, in one way or another, then there’s always a place for words.

We have so many thoughts on a daily basis, around family, life choices, relationships, photography, art, that kind of thing that there’s always something to share with you. I really hope that every time we post there is a little bit of something there, a snippet that you can use in your day to day, some kind of value to pop in your collective useful things.

It’s funny really, but the posts that seems to have the most fuel, are the more personal ones. The one’s where we open up and show more of our vulnerabilities and we’re so very grateful for that. It feels as though we are allowing space for these thoughts and feelings to appear. For others to understand issues that are delicate and perhaps difficult to have real conversations about.

Over the past couple of weeks we have both read some incredibly honest and heartfelt pieces of writing from others. Some which I can image will have been hard to write and even harder to imagine the response. Writing from the heart takes some strength and it’s not for everyone, but I truly believe that if you have built your audience in a genuine way, and you are speaking from your true self, that it is always worth sharing.

A few words have been coming up over and over this month.

Have courage

and confidence will come

Over the weekend I touched on the issue of mental health again. If you have been following us for awhile you may have read our post about both of our struggles over the years in different ways. In particular last weekend I wanted to address how much it can help someone to speak openly. You never really know who is reading, who is needing just those words today.

So if you’re ever worrying about where to start with writing, start by writing down the real things that matter to you. Think about the message you want to get across and how you can support people and build a community around you where everyone can speak freely and have a space to be heard.

All images below shot in Film with the Nikon F3 HP / t max 100