I'll say it: comparison is a good thing.
I say yes - you should look at other artists’ work.
When I started in photography I would inevitably look at other photographers’ work. I was new to the game, had no idea of the amplitude of the professional photography universe, didn’t know a thing about styles. All I knew with clarity was the type of work I liked and the type of work I disliked, but in a superficial level. So I would inevitably look at the photographer's whose worked I liked and try to make my own work based on them.
At that time I would hear a lot of other photographers and artists saying that you should look at other people's work as an inspiration but not to copy them - and I'll be honest to say that I had no idea what the difference was when it came to planning my photoshoots and get to the final result.
It took me a while to get it. Learning the difference between copying and being inspired by was a construction. So I'm here today to share with you my learnings in case you also don't know the difference in a practical sense:
Let me begin by saying that comparison is a good thing.
I hear so many (so many) people saying that we shouldn't compare ourselves to others but I strongly and polemically disagree to that statement.
I truly believe that comparing the quality of my delivery to professionals who are better than me - please note that ‘better’ is a personal opinion - keeps the bar high. And personally, to me, I will always strive for better and, in a healthy way, I won't ever settle for what I'm currently doing. When and if I ever settle, it means it's time to change careers again.
However, looking at others’ work requires a certain level of emotional intelligence - particularly self-awareness, so you don't fall into two traps:
Practice excessive comparison to a point that instead of making you push yourself it just makes you question yourself too much into not being good enough instead of focusing on your craft
Attempt to copy other artists’ work and loose all your personal work - and, eventually, value
Know how to use comparison
I have a list of the photographers and educators I highly look up to as I believe that not only their product and work is wonderful but also the relationship they've built with their work and how they carry themselves. I truly see them as accomplished individuals aside from just being terrific professionals, and that is what I ultimately strive for.
But instead of looking at them as an unachievable standard, I look at them as references and as a clear path to where I want to go. I rationalize each and everything that I like about them as a professional and individuals and I make a list of what makes me perceive them that way and what are the things I need to work on to get to that same level in each of those categories.
Some of them inspire me for their sensibility which is quite subjective, and while I know my sensibility will never be the same as theirs since I have my own unique way of looking at life and love, it still makes me want to continue to work more into refining it.
Some of them inspire me for more practical aspects of their work - such as how they edit their greens or use depth of filed in photography - which makes me challenge myself in upcoming photoshoots to see if the same approach would personally work for me.
Some of them inspire me for how chilled they are in business and their relationship with money, which made myself work hard on changing my scarcity mindset around money so I can have a more relaxed and abundant perspective on it
When I put this list together I have a roadmap to improve my craft and lifestyle into what I want to achieve, and that on its own is half of my business strategy for a whole year.
Know how to make it your own
Looking back now at my earliest work it is very clear to me each time I was trying to copy someone's style as opposed to when I was just following my instincts and doing my own work. I can see it in the way I posed my subjects, in how much grain I added to the photos, in how I played with reflections and flares. Unsurprisingly, all of the times I tried to copy someone instead of be inspired by them, as a result I have a very unnatural look in all those photos that, to me, screams unoriginal.
That's because I was bluntly copying specific concepts and ideas instead of using them to inspire my work and make it my own way of using the same concepts and ideas.
This is where the big difference between copy and inspiration lies.
When I think about this topic the December 2022 US Vogue cover comes to mind. It's the one that Annie Leibovitz photographed Jennifer Lopez inspired by Gordon Parks’s iconic photo essay of the legendary performer Eartha Kitt (LIFE, 1952). Here are the two images for ‘comparison’:
LOVE IS IN THE AIR
Lopez wears a Valentino Haute Couture dress. Leibovitz’s portrait is a tribute to photographer Gordon Parks’s iconic photo essay of the singer and actress Eartha Kitt for LIFE in 1952.
Eartha Kitt photographed by Gordon Parks for LIFE magazine in 1952.
These two photos blow my mind for them each being unique in a style and context in which they are built on while having the absolute same overall look.
In this particular case, Annie Leibovitz' work is a re-interpretation and a homage in which the elements that were copied are intended to be quite literal. But you can also see Annie's personal style and her perception of fashion and luxury equally applied on her interpretation of Gordon Park's photo.
Learn to find inspiration from other sources
Regardless if you're an artist, a life coach, an accountant or a nutritionist. Finding inspiration shouldn't be limited to other people in your field, instead when we are able to be inspired by other professionals, entities, forms of arts, we amplify our library of references and diversify our deliveries.
The thing with inspiration is that it can be very subjective and while you may not have an immediate idea after reading a classic novel, watching a cult movie or studying medieval art history, you are still broadening your perception over all kinds of subjects that will play its part when the time comes.
Not every single thing you see or do will become and actual bright idea in the future, but together they will tailor your unique perception of the world and make any ideas and creations your own unique stamp.
Let yourself be surprised by how much a good novel, a therapy session, a run in the park, a new spotify playlist of musicians you don't even know or simply taking a new road when driving to work can amplify your perceptions and eventually bring you a bright new idea - even though you can pinpoint its source.