"These fallen leaves envy those still on trees. But eventually all
will fall to the ground and disappear into time's passage."
Now, with hindsight, I can see more clearly that individual successes in the business, or just in the personal advancement of one's art, can lift and enhance the playing fields for many who follow them in making good work. A person who is brave enough to push for higher fees or sales prices, who then is successful in getting them, sets a new, higher ceiling for everyone else. If they are wise enough to pay attention and take advantage of the altered landscape. A new gallery needs many artists not just the one on display for the next six weeks.
Often I hear from the old guard that a new person has quickly or unfairly gained popularity on Instagram or TikTok because they are female, or young, or beautiful. But when I look at the work that the "instant" Instagram success has put out into the world and compare it with the work proffered by the critic I can sometimes clearly see why the former has excelled and the latter is mired in frustration. Or fear. One is currently in step with current culture while the other wishes culture would protect tenure. It's a mean road to go down.
It's part of a syndrome I've covered here before. Established artists sometimes find a "comfortable" style that brings them success in the moment. They get praise in the moment. And they find themselves repeating the same basic work for decades and decades either fearful or uncomfortable of stepping outside what was once a safe path for them. They seem unaware that they are stumbling down a dead end street. The work has been done and absorbed. Their real impetus going forward should be re-invention and an embrace of their vision of now. Today. No one of any generation listens well when a conversation starts with, "Back in the golden age of......" or "That's not the way we did....x"
Some practitioners keep making the same images but dress them up with new stylist touches. A new format. A new color palette. An unusual angle. But the core of the original vision stays the same. And they want to be commended for dressing up old ideas or constructs in a new wardrobe. But art doesn't really work that way for the vast majority of artists.
Sure, If you are already famous you can make $$$ by churning out endless iterations of the work you became famous for. As long as collectors are anxious to buy proximity to fame you'll be in good shape. But the rest of us either need to work without the expectation that some audience will give us the stamp of approval or; even better, we need to work with ongoing curiosity and passion to produce art that resonates with the time in which we live. We need to interpret our vision in the context of our culture. Especially if we're leveraging the new tools of culture to reach an audience.
To compare one's self to "the competition" or the newbie who has an "unfair advantage" is to miss the mark entirely. It may be that you don't really like the "new arrivals" work. That's fair. But some audience out there does and it's obviously not your audience. Since it's not your audience you have nothing to lose by the other person's success.
Finally, if you truly believe that your work is the superior currency you might want to rethink your overall competitive strategy. Better to work on finding your own audience; people who appreciate your vision, than to tear down another artist who has no culpability in keeping you from your own success.
Jealousy is a waste of time. A waste of energy and in the long run it chips away at whatever sector you work in. It's a better strategy to lift all boats than to try and drag everyone down to a lower level of existence.
I entitled this, "Quiet Photography" because I believe that your first and most important audience is yourself. If you keep making work in which you aren't really invested in order to achieve "likes" you are really just following someone else's dreams. And that's a dead end street.
