Looking back over my career, the photographs that have shaped me the most were never commissioned by a client.
There was no brief to follow, no deadline to meet and no expectation of what the final images should look like. There wasn’t anyone waiting for a gallery, no pressure to create something that would sell and nobody to please but myself. It was simply me, my camera and the freedom to explore. Looking back over my career, I genuinely believe those moments have shaped me more than many of the paid jobs I’ve photographed.
Whenever I think about my own creative journey, my mind always goes back to Iceland. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit several times and every trip has left a lasting mark on my work. At the time, I never travelled with the intention of creating my next collection or discovering a new style. I simply went because I wanted to experience the landscape, immerse myself in the wildlife and allow myself the freedom to photograph whatever caught my eye.
There is something incredibly liberating about creating with absolutely no agenda. You stop worrying about whether an image is commercially viable or whether it will perform well on social media. Instead, you begin noticing the small things again. The way the light falls across a mountain. The texture in volcanic rock. The movement of a horse’s mane in the wind. The colours of the landscape. The silence. The atmosphere. You become present, and when you’re present, creativity has room to grow.
The funny thing is that, at the time, you rarely realise how important those moments are. You’re simply taking photographs because they interest you. You don’t know that years later you’ll look back and see that a particular trip completely changed your eye or influenced the direction of your work. Yet that’s exactly what has happened to me. I can now look back through my photographs and almost pinpoint different stages of my creative journey. I can see where Iceland influenced my love of simplicity, where certain landscapes changed my use of colour and texture and where ideas that seemed insignificant at the time quietly became part of my artwork years later.
Creativity has a wonderful way of working beneath the surface. It doesn’t always reveal itself immediately. Sometimes an experience needs time to settle before you understand how much it has changed you. That’s why I believe giving yourself space to explore is one of the greatest investments you can make in your creative career. Not because every photograph will be extraordinary, but because every experience adds another layer to the way you see the world.
Of course, exploring doesn’t have to mean booking an expensive flight halfway across the world. If Iceland, Mongolia, India or the Scottish Highlands are on your bucket list, then absolutely go if you have the opportunity. Travel has an incredible way of expanding your perspective. But equally, some of the most valuable creative adventures can happen just a few miles from home.
Walk through your local village with fresh eyes. Visit a woodland you’ve never explored before. Photograph your local coastline at sunrise. Spend an afternoon wandering around a country estate or nature reserve. Even the forgotten corners of your town can become places of inspiration if you allow yourself to slow down and really look.
The location itself isn’t really the point.
What matters is giving yourself permission to play.
As photographers, especially once we begin charging for our work, it’s very easy to lose that sense of curiosity. Every shoot has an objective. Every gallery has to satisfy a client. Every image has to achieve something. While that’s an important part of running a successful business, it’s equally important to protect a part of your creativity that belongs only to you.
The photographs you create for yourself are often the ones that quietly teach you the most. They’re where you experiment without fear of getting it wrong. They’re where new ideas appear. They’re where your confidence grows. Most importantly, they’re where your own creative voice begins to develop.
Ironically, those personal projects almost always find their way back into your paid work. Your compositions become stronger because you’ve spent time experimenting. Your storytelling becomes richer because you’ve allowed yourself to observe rather than simply deliver. Your clients often won’t know why your work feels different, but they’ll feel it nonetheless.
That’s why I honestly believe that giving yourself time to create without expectation is more valuable than almost any paid job you’ll ever photograph. Not because it pays the bills but because it feeds the part of you that made you pick up a camera in the first place. It reminds you why you love creating.
So I’d like to leave you with a challenge.
Over the next few weeks, take yourself somewhere with no agenda. Leave the client work behind for a day. Don’t worry about what you’ll post on Instagram or whether the photographs will ever be seen by anyone else. Simply take your camera and explore. Notice the details. Follow your curiosity. Photograph what makes you stop, not what you think you should photograph.
One day, you may look back, just as I have with my trips to Iceland, and realise that those photographs you took purely for yourself quietly shaped everything that came afterwards.
Sometimes the most important step you can take in your creative journey isn’t chasing the next paid job.
Sometimes it’s simply giving yourself permission to play.