035/365
December 10, 2015
Tenants Harbor, ME, USA
I think meeting Gary Briechle was a last minute confirmation for me that sharing openly to help other people really is the right thing to do. I was struggling with that so much lately.
Ever since I started taking pictures I openly shared my knowledge with other photographers. I offered help, wrote educational blog posts, answered emails and taught free workshops. I invested days of my life helping other people with their photography, sometimes to the expense of my own creative work.
Since then I've had my pictures stolen, used without my permission or blatantly copied, articles ripped off, ideas borrowed or concepts swiped. I put so much love into all of this and I could never understand how other creatives would think something like that is ok. I would feel so stupid.
But then I remember how many kind people I've met through my work and how thankful I am for the friends I've made. I remember how wonderful it is to feel inspired and how humbled I am if another photographer tells me that my work inspires them to try something new, discover the world or just to pick up their old film camera again. There are already enough negative people in the world and I don't want to become one of them.
Gary approaches it just like me. He openly shares what he knows and wants to help other people succeed without getting anything out of that for himself. And I will continue to do so too.