Photography helps with mental health problems

In my opinion, unless you're a professional, you should pursue artistic outlets for the joy of it. It's not a competition unless you make it one. Most of the photos I take are meh, and the few that come out really good, I really like -- regardless of what anyone else thinks. I'm taking the photos for me, after all. Sure, it's nice if others like them, too, but that's not even remotely a requirement.

I can't throw a stick on the internet without hitting a more talented or prodigious photographer, but that's neither here nor there. I take photos because I enjoy taking (and processing) photos, not for likes, clout, or fame. But, for sure, if someone wanted to give me $4 million for one of my photos that's waaaaay better than Rhine II, I'm not gonna say no. 😆

Here's a good article on it. When your life revolves around taking photos of the worst humanity has to offer, it's going to take a toll. For Kevin Carter, it appears the criticism he received about "not caring" about the starving child, when he cared far more than those leveling the criticism, was the straw that broke the camel's back. Not dissimilar to the Korean and Japanese idols who end themselves over the online hate they receive.

Not sure what you mean, here.

Like I said, unless you're a pro making a living off of it, who cares? If you enjoy taking the photos, take them! Doesn't matter if others like them or not. On the other hand, if you're taking photos to win approval, then you have to figure something out.

And while I agree, as soon as you release yourself into the wild, or look at others' work, it's hard not to think about your own. I don't think you can look at your own photography in a vacuum and conclude much, let alone grow. It has to go out there and you should probably take a few notes looking around at the work of others, if not simply for inspirational purposes.

I don't think you have to be a pro to want to improve your craft because you want something better out of what you are doing. I don't think it's about approval, so much as competency. Does anyone want to make bad photos or ugly photos? Cue someone name dropping some obscure photographer who did just that and found success in it.

We probably all have it in us to want to improve. But there's a lot between a bad photo and a masterpiece.There are many tones between black and white.

Think about all artists out there, painters for instance. Very few of them will see their paintings at national museums and be world renown. They still paint. Because they love it.

It's possible to be happy about what you accomplish without feeling it needs to be comparable to the work of the best.

Well I certainly hope your wife is a supermodel. Can't be having these average run of the mill wives holding us back now, can we. Must strive for the absolute best

I think I always looked at my own photography in a vacuum. I compared myself only to myself. So while I looked at other people's photos and admired them, I never compared my work to theirs. I guess that's weird, 'cause, as mentioned by GHundred above, when it came to my wife and supermodels, well, yeah, I compared. 😂

For sure -- if you're unhappy with your own photos and want them to be as "good" as others' photos, that makes sense. Myself, I always took enough photos to have a few that I thought were good, so I never really fretted about the 99% that were meh or just plain sucked. And, of course, over time, the bar kept rising on what I felt was "good" as I gradually improved (improved overall, that is -- many of my all time favorite photos that I took are from long ago).

Want my advice? Probably not, but you opened it up to the unwashed masses, so here goes.
Forget photographing, & start looking. And seeing. Properly. Once you've become accustomed to that, grab your small, cheap & basic camera, with a couple of fixed focal length lenses, throw them in some sort of shoulder bag, and go about your usual business. The important bit here is that your gear should not be fancy, high end or expensive. Just cheap & basic. For me, that's a prime somewhere between 18 & 20mm, and some sort of 40-60mm in 135 format equivalent. Everyone is different. Grab what works for you. But now, actually look at what you're seeing as you wander about. Scenes will jump out at you, nearly smacking you in the face at times. Don't go hunting for picture opportunities. Let them come to you.
This, is the best fun you'll ever have with a camera I assure you. I took it one step further, & spent nearly 3 months on an overseas holiday with a second hand 28mm equivalent, a cheap and cheerful 40mm equivalent, & a free bonus 50mm equivalent. Had the time of my life. Left my full frame Canon at home, relaxed, & shot what hit me in the face. And as long as you're having fun, what everyone else is doing or producing, is of no concern to you. Sure, post them up on forums or whatever, if someone else likes or enjoys them, that's simply just a bonus. Not the sole intention. If that doesn't work for you, dump your camera gear, and go do something else you actually enjoy. Life is too short to get stressed over trying to jam 1's & 0's into a little computer box, and then frustrating yourself trying to wrangle them into something pleasing to your eye. Or what you think others will approve of.
I personally keep forgetting this, get sucked into buying "better" gear, smack myself in the head when I realise the repeated error of my ways, and go back to simple again.

No, never.

For me, photography isn't about going out and making photographs, whatever that means. I didn't realize until a few years ago (after 40+ years of photography) that many photographers do that - go out looking for photographs to take. It never occurred to me to do that.

I document my life. No one on the planet is better at doing that than me, simply because they aren't me. And I rarely look at the photographs of others, for the same reason - they mean nothing to me, whereas my photographs mean a lot to me. It's hard to imagine someone else taking a photograph that would mean more to me than the photographs I take of my own life.

Photography for "eye candy" has never done much for me.

Your wife gonna be so happy you didn't save the family portrait when the house burns down, lol.

I'm not sure I get the analogy/example, but I admit this might have to do with my limited understanding of the English language... however I'd personally suggest to leave all wifes, husbands, partners, family and pets out of any analogies or attempts to prove a point as much as possible.

And back on topic: It's not surprising that people are different in that aspect (the amount of comparing themselves to others and the degree to which we're affected by it) and I don't think it makes a lot of sense to say: "Just don't do that!". First of all you can't change your pre-disposition for this completely and second of all it's perfectly normal (and even necessary, at least in our modern world) to compare ourselves to others, and a vast majority of all people do that on a daily basis. The thing, I feel we should try to avoid is obsessing over it. I think there are many ways of getting better at that with some training though. I often struggle with it myself, so you won't hear a lot of advice from me, but just believing people who tell you something is great - even when you think you could have done this or that better - is probably not a bad start.

For that reason I'm thankful for places with a welcoming and constructive atmosphere (like here in the weekly C&C thread/other image sharing threads here or some themed groups on flickr...)! And for me personally creating music, images or writing also helps in getting these feelings and thoughts out while doing something constructive. As a couple of people here have already mentioned getting out into Nature (with or without photography), moving your body and seeing something different from time to time is certainly another VERY important aspect of not falling into a rut of self-doubt, if you have pre-disposition for that.

Nope...I don't understand it either. Obviously, pictures of my family are part of "my own life".

I've lived in Colorado my whole life, and I've never gotten "out into Nature" for photography. I've gone on one hike in my life, when I was about 12, and nearly died because of my allergies. I didn't get effective enough medicine to do that sort of thing until about 3 years ago, and now it's probably too late to develop any sort of love for romping around in nature, especially since, even with medicine, it still makes me sick to do things that are only slightly close to going to a forest or something.

Sorry to hear that! Allergies suck indeed. Hope you found some other things you enjoy instead!

My problem have 7 hobbies, not having too few.

Excellent - that seems like a relatively good problem to have. I would say it‘s somewhat similar in my case although I‘d describe it as having too many interests to persue most of them as hobbies though.

Well, if "interests" is a euphemism for "women", then... 😏

No questions asked by simple.joy, on Flickr

😂 Not sure how you got that impression, but I assume I might have worded that poorly...

Typically, if one is in the photo, that means they did not take it and are not the photographer. Typically, again, that family photo is one of the most "valued" items people have. Those photos seem to have a value no photo the photographer takes, ever seems to match.

I was just pointing out I can name one photo you might value that you didn't take.

I take my own, via infrared remote.