Not sure if this has been posted somewhere in between... (just got the link from a friend and would like to share) /kaypoh :sticktong
Source:
http://rhysharper.com/2011/06/16/my-identity-as-a-photographer/
"There was a time when I thought that the work you create is a product of the gear you use. There was a time when I talked about fancy lenses and spent time looking for gear to build a huge collection, thinking it would make me a “real” photographer. There was a time when I placed an importance on how much money I might make from doing photography, and there was a time when I thought that working with high-profile clients might make me successful. There was a time that I began doing photography not knowing what it meant or why I liked it. There was a time when the sound of shutter was the major reason I took photographs. There was a time when I had no idea how to talk about photography. There was a time when people thought I was this cool photographer, but inside, there was no substance. That time is gone, largely due to a great man and true educator in the photography community.
...
In 2004, I enrolled at Parsons School of Design here in New York City. I had researched the school and of course, found it to be one of the most well-known and seemingly respected art schools in the nation. I admit – I went to Parsons for the name. With alums like Isaac Mizrahi, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs and a huge slew of fashion photographers shooting for all the major publications, somehow I got the idea that the Parsons name would earn me some success and a high-profile career. Boy, was I mistaken.
A few months after school started, the photo department chair called me into her office and told me that she wanted me to take remedial black and white photography. And then subsequently told me that about 12 credits from my almost 70 which I’d earned during my Associate degree meant nothing, and that I would be starting as a freshman. I was already not impressed with the school or my professors. I had a couple of really fantastic professors, one of whom had a tremendous impact on my life. I’ll talk about him later, too. But my experience at Parsons as a whole left me feeling discouraged and very lost. After a slew of bad courses and then a semester critique at which one of the department heads told me that my work was boring, shitty, and that no one would want to look at it, I felt defeated. I decided that I just couldn’t ask my parents to help me pay $50,000 a year for another three years only for me to feel horrible about doing photography.
I finished out the school year and left Parsons to find my way in the world. In retrospect, I think I was really sad about quitting. And as much as I sometimes feel bad about myself for being 28 and just now finishing my Bachelor’s and actually making some accomplishments and getting myself together, I think that my decision to leave Parsons was the right one. Despite the flailing, the floundering, the calling my parents to bail me out because I didn’t have a “real” job, the desperate feelings that I might never succeed or do something worthwhile with my life… I made the right decision. Because all of those things have led me here. To this very moment. I have spent the past 7 years climbing a mountain, and right now, I am standing at the top of that mountain looking back at my journey from an incredible view. It’s amazing when one day you wake up, look back, and see how far you’ve come. And that’s where I am right now.
There was a time when I didn’t understand what it means to be a photographer, or what things are important. But that time is long gone.
Being a photographer is not a career. It’s not a job, it’s not a hobby, it’s not some thing I do for fun. Being a photographer is literally who I am. It is my identity. Because for me, being a photographer is the very essence of my attitude and beliefs. It is far beyond a means of self-expression. It is the result of the way I think, see, and do. It is a culmination of every experience I have lived, and it is the way I communicate with the world in order to effect change."
If you're asking what's my point, please read the above again.