In Episode 570 of The Perceptive Photographer, I found myself circling a couple of questions: Is an audience required for meaning, or just for momentum? And if no one ever sees a photograph, does it still matter? (and the difference between sees and seen)

As photographers, we’re surrounded by feedback. Images are shared, measured, ranked, and quickly replaced by the next shot. It’s easy to absorb the idea that a photograph only becomes real once it’s been seen. But when I slow down and think about why I started making photographs in the first place, the audience was originally never part of that conversation (although is sneaks in now at times).

For me, meaning starts in photography at the moment of noticing. The act of seeing and recognizing something worth paying attention to is already enough to give a photograph value. Some of the most important images I’ve made were never shared. They exist as points of understanding, memory, or emotional clarity. In those moments, the photograph did its job without ever leaving my camera.

An audience, however, does provide something else: momentum. Being seen can encourage us to keep going. It can create energy, dialogue, and a sense of connection. But it can also quietly influence what we choose to photograph, nudging us toward what’s expected or rewarded. When that happens, meaning can become secondary to reaction.

So maybe the question isn’t whether photographs need an audience, but what role we want that audience to play. If no one ever saw my photographs again, which ones would I still make? Episode 570 is my attempt to sit with that question—and invite you to do the same.