Photographers were among the early adopters of the internet. We quickly saw the potential for posting our images online. And we didn’t have to write anything, just learn a little code <img src=”a great photo.jpg”>
Very cool. Pretty soon the code wasn’t needed when sites cropped up to allow us to simply load up photos. Shortly thereafter galleries were available to us and then e-commerce and then social media websites.
With a few years we went from buying postcards and print ads to reach a few hundred people to reaching thousands with a few free clicks of a mouse. Soon almost all photographers, not just professionals, were getting their work out there. When social media and smartphones hit us, even casual picture takers became prolific posters.
With that reach came the need for a lot of self curation. It’s easy to put up a lot of photos. What do these photos say about your craft and your vision and you? Are they consistent or do they show a wide range of subjects and shooting styles? Are they a personal statement or a practice in visual creation?
One is not better than the other. It’s just important to know what you are saying.