For most of us interested in photography it is natural, as with most types of art, to want to share our work with others. We might want to receive validation for our efforts or invite creative feedback from others. Sometimes, showing our work is simply part of completing the creative process.

There are many ways in which we can show our photography. Some of us may be fortunate enough to be invited to display our work in a local exhibition. Where I live there are many opportunities to take part in local art and photography contests where winning entries will be displayed for a limited time.

However, this is not for everyone and sharing work on one of many online platforms or on social media is a more common way to get our work noticed.

Social media has its advantages and disadvantages. With strategic use of hashtags on Instagram we can get our work to new audiences and be seen beyond the world of family and friends. On the other hand, social media audiences are very fleeting, and people quickly move on to the next thing while our photography quickly disappears from view.

There is one way in which we can display our work in a more permanent capacity and that is to create our own website.

By having our own website, we can take control over the display of our work, our photographs will be available at all times to be viewed by anyone who visits our website, and we can put our work into context by accompanying our images with captions or including them in blog posts.

Below I elaborate on why I am a believer in the value of having a photography website. I identify 3 main reasons:

1. A website encourages you to do photography your way – not to label yourself or box yourself into any genre.

Social media often encourages us to label our photography. It can be the case that we will get more views and more followers if we specialise in one genre and share work in that genre.

If views and followers are what we are looking for, that’s fine. But if we want to do photography for ourselves, if we want to follow our curiosity and share our ‘experiments’ rather than a finished product, a website will allow us to do this.

It will give us the freedom to do photography our way, without judgement.

2. A website encourages you to be more intentional about your work.

A website can be a place to display work on themes, projects, and topics of personal preference. It can place more structure on our workflow. It can allow us to build the story of our photography journey over time rather than share random photos that will be instantly forgotten.

A website will help us to share work in a more meaningful way, to engage more fully with our audience and with our own photography process, to be more intentional about what we are doing and to understand why we are drawn to particular subjects and themes in our photography.

Through developing a range of subjects on our website, we get time to explore topics and genres in depth, time to discover what interests us and what we want to pursue further.

3. You can create a more long-term gain for your work.

When we display our work on our own website we don’t have to shoot and share straight away therefore our work will have a greater longevity. We can save our work until we wish to share it. Often, sharing images in the context of wider themes and projects gives them more meaning and purpose.

I like to experiment and photograph seemingly random subjects which would not appeal to social media audiences. With my own website I can create a platform to display these images and explain why I was drawn to photograph them.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As an enthusiast photographer I have had difficulty in attracting followers on social media platforms and in getting my photography noticed. I know that those who succeed on social media tend to have a strong ‘brand’, post consistently and frequently engage with others, so a lot more effort was needed on my part if I was to succeed on this platform.  

With my own website I can work at my own pace, my work is there for anyone who stumbles across it, and my viewership builds with time.

These are the three main reasons why I think it is good to have my own photography website and why I favour a photography website over sharing on social media platforms such as Instagram.

You might think of some more.