What happens when you still love photography but start to wonder if there’s any place left for you in the industry?

In this raw, vulnerable episode, Patrick Fore gets brutally honest about what it means to be a working photographer in 2025. From a moment of personal crisis in a cluttered garage to the soul-draining grind of cold outreach and algorithm-chasing, this episode pulls back the curtain on the emotional and existential cost of staying in the game.

You’ll hear:

• Why radical honesty might be the only antidote to creative burnout
• The tension between art and commerce, and why it matters more than ever
• A reflection on the dark side of the photography education economy
• A personal story about hitting the wall, and choosing not to walk away
• A deeper dive into the concept of Flow vs. Resistance, and how to find your way back to meaning in the chaos

Whether you’re a full-time freelancer, a weekend warrior, or someone questioning the whole damn thing, this episode isn’t about pretending. It’s about naming the mess, wrestling with it, and finding a way to keep going.

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https://www.terriblephotographer.com

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Instagram @TerriblePhotographer

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Book: Lessons From a Terrible Photographer (coming soon)
Email me - [email protected]

Credits:

This episode contains a referenced clip from “How to enter ‘flow state’ on command” by Steven Kotler for Big Think (Watch here) and a short excerpt (under 30 seconds) from Pixar’s Soul, used to illustrate the concept of creative flow.

Music provided by and licensed through Artlist.io.

Episode Title:

Why Shapes How

On Intention, Execution, and the Lie of Objectivity

Description:

You can nail the lighting. Get the shot. Hit all the settings.

But if you don’t know why you’re making the image, it’s just visual noise.

In this episode of The Terrible Photographer Podcast, we dig into the lie at the heart of modern photography — that technical mastery is the pinnacle of the craft. It’s not. Intent is. And most people are scared of it.

We talk motorcycle maintenance, emotionally hollow images, and what happens when a “family photo session” turns into something that actually means something.

Whether you shoot portraits, weddings, branding, or weird experimental self-portraits at 2am with a desk lamp, this episode is a reminder: your camera doesn’t make meaning. You do.

Inside this episode:

• Why so many photographers stop learning once they hit “base camp”
• The family shoot example that reveals what intentional work really looks like
• The myth of photographic objectivity — and why your perspective always leaks in
• Why TikTok’s rough, real content hits harder than a polished campaign
• What separates technically perfect images from the ones that actually stick

Want to go deeper?

Sign up for Field Notes — a free weekly email for photographers who want something more honest than gear reviews and Instagram hacks.

When you sign up, you’ll get the first chapter of my book Lessons From a Terrible Photographer — in PDF andaudio, delivered straight to your inbox.

👉 Get it at www.terriblephotographer.com

Credits:

• Music licensed and used by permission through Artlist.io
• Episode Art Photography by Earl Wilcox – shot in Santa Barbara.

This episode wasn’t planned.

But with federal troops deployed in Los Angeles, students arrested, immigrants targeted, and journalists silenced — it felt dishonest to pretend everything was normal.

In this special essay-style episode, I explore the role of photography in moments of protest and power:

• Why the frame is never neutral
• How truth is shaped, and sometimes distorted, by the camera
• The difference between documenting and performing
• What it means to be a witness, not a tourist

I also share a powerful on-the-ground reflection from LA-based photographer @chelsealaurenla, whose words remind us that not everything makes the news, but it still matters.

If you’ve ever questioned whether photography can change anything… this one’s for you.

Mentions & Resources:

• Follow Chelsea Lauren: instagram.com/chelsealaurenla
• Music licensed by Artlist.io

Stay Connected:

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The podcast is the campfire, Field Notes is what you take home. Field Notes is the weekly email companion to this podcast, one part creative letter, one part behind-the-scenes mess, all bullshit-free.

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Learn more about the project at:

terriblephotographer.com

If this episode meant something to you, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

It helps more than you know.

At some point, every artist has to choose:

Keep making work that gets likes.

Or make work that actually says something.

This is an episode about the quiet uprising.

The moment you stop painting for the academy.

The moment you realize you’re not burned out from doing too much,  you’re burned out from doing too much that means nothing.

We start with a true (and strange) story from 1863, when fourteen painters staged a creative rebellion and changed the art world forever.

And then we bring it back to you. To now.

To that feeling you get when you scroll your own grid and wonder if any of it matters.

If any of it’s even yours.

This is The Revolt.

Not with swords. With silence.

With risk.

With art that doesn’t beg for applause.

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The podcast is the campfire, Field Notes is what you take home. Field Notes is the weekly email companion to this podcast, one part creative letter, one part behind-the-scenes mess, all bullshit-free.

→ Sign up here

📬 Join the conversation on Substack

We’re building a community of artists who are tired of the hustle and hungry for something real.

→ terriblephotographer.substack.com

🎧 Music licensed via Art List

Header photo stolen lovingly from Wikipedia. Don’t tell the Louvre.

🙏 Rate & Review

Currently stuck behind How to Build a Photography Empire in 6 Weeks and just above Lens Cap ASMR.

You can help change that.

Rate the show. Leave a review. Make the robots notice us.

This week, I throw out the episode I was planning and respond to an email from Carri, a baby photographer from Michigan, whose words hit like a punch in the face. We’re talking about a different kind of burnout. Not from hustle, but from creative absence. From stillness. From not getting to do the thing you love.

This is for the photographers, and all creatives, who feel the slow ache when the work dries up, and the silence gets loud. If you’ve ever questioned your worth when the gigs disappeared, this one’s for you.

This Week’s Light Leak: “The Work I Would Love to Make”

Find one image, anywhere (Pinterest, a book, a magazine, Instagram), that captures the kind of work you wish you were making if you had no restraints. No budget. No client. No algorithm to please.

Then describe it. Not visually, use words. Mood, tone, feeling, intention.

The goal isn’t to recreate the image. It’s to tap into the honesty of what you want to say through your work—whether that scares you or not.

This is where we begin.

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The podcast is the campfire, Field Notes is what you take home. Field Notes is the weekly email companion to this podcast, one part creative letter, one part behind-the-scenes mess, all bullshit-free.

→ Sign up here

👉 Sign up at terriblephotographer.com
Follow us on Instagram @terriblephotographer

 Mentions & Links:

• Check out and Follow Carri's Instagram @carri_beth_photography
• Carri’s IG reference: @detroitbravo
• Music provided by Artlist.io

You ever clean your entire house and still smell something rotting?

This episode is about that. Except the smell is coming from your portfolio.

In Episode 10, we’re talking creative decay — that slow, invisible rot that sets in when your work looks good but feels dead. From personal stories (including one involving a bathtub and a topless model reading Vogue) to a breakdown of the 60/40 Rule for survival, this is a brutally honest reflection on boredom, brand, and the danger of playing it safe for too long.

We dig into:

• What happens when your “style” becomes a straitjacket
• The illusion of consistency in the age of the algorithm
• Why your safest work might be your most forgettable
• How to cheat the system and make space for personal, reckless, real creative work
• A dead rat story. Literally.

If you’ve ever looked at your own work and felt… nothing?
You’re not broken.
You’re just ready to break out.

Subscribe to Field Notes

The podcast is the campfire, Field Notes is what you take home. Field Notes is the weekly email companion to this podcast, one part creative letter, one part behind-the-scenes mess, all bullshit-free.

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Special featured music in this episode:
“Born to Become” by Maya Johnson – licensed via Artist.io
Other theme music also licensed and provided by Artist.io

Some nights, what keeps you up isn't anxiety,  it’s the quiet ache of misalignment. In this episode, we dive into the emotional and economic toll of creative work: the burnout, the spirals, the slow erosion of joy when your art becomes your paycheck. Patrick opens up about nearly quitting photography, the paradox of making a living off your creativity, and what it really means to protect your spark in a world that constantly demands more.

We explore Rick Rubin’s philosophy of creativity as a muscle,  not a resource to be drained, but a force to be nurtured. If you’ve ever felt the tension between your soul work and your client work, this one’s for you.

You’re not behind.
You’re just tired.
And that’s okay.

Credits
Episode Photo By Alexandra Gorn | Unsplash

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The podcast is the campfire, Field Notes is what you take home. Field Notes is the weekly email companion to this podcast, one part creative letter, one part behind-the-scenes mess, all bullshit-free.

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Featuring music by:
🎵 Jalowo – I Can’t Sleep feat. Michi
Music provided by Artist.io

We all start by imitating. That’s human. But somewhere along the line, many of us stopped making work we love — and started making work that just looks like it belongs to someone else.

In this episode, Patrick tells the strange, slightly heartbreaking story of Klarbinnax-7, an alien who crash-lands in California and becomes a crude copy of a workshop guru named Brad. Through this fictional tale (that’s not so fictional), we dive deep into the psychology of conformity, the cost of mimicry, and how to find your voice again when everything around you screams “just do it like them.”

If you’ve ever felt stuck making the kind of work that doesn’t feel like you, this one’s for you.

🎧 Topics Covered:

• Why we follow, even when it costs us
• How photography education became a billion-dollar industry
• The subtle burnout of imitation
• 3 practical steps to break the cycle and make weird, personal, unforgettable work again

🌀 Creative Challenge:

If you stopped caring what other photographers thought of your work—if you weren't trying to impress them, join their communities, or earn their validation—what would your photography actually look like?

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The podcast is the campfire, Field Notes is what you take home. Field Notes is the weekly email companion to this podcast, one part creative letter, one part behind-the-scenes mess, all bullshit-free.

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Not what your clients want. Not what the algorithm rewards. Not what workshops taught you. But what would you create if the only person you needed to please was yourself?

📩 Feedback or thoughts? Email Patrick: [email protected]

📸 Follow: @TerriblePhotographer

this episode is a love letter to color. Not just as an aesthetic choice—but as psychology, science, culture, and storytelling.

We start with a fictional moment on a busy New York City street, then dive into a 5-minute crash course on color theory (Bill Nye style), unpack cultural associations across time and geography, and land on practical ways to use color intentionally in your work. Whether you’re new to photography or 10 years deep into your career, this episode will challenge you to see color not as decoration, but as direction.

You’ll also hear vintage narration clips from the 1998 documentary Light, Darkness and Colours. For more info, visit the Top Documentary Films page.

Plus: old-school science film voiceovers, an Ira Glass-style segue, and a dad joke buried in the ad break. You’re welcome.

Subscribe to Field Notes

The podcast is the campfire, Field Notes is what you take home. Field Notes is the weekly email companion to this podcast, one part creative letter, one part behind-the-scenes mess, all bullshit-free.

→ Sign up here

Creative Challenge:

Use Adobe Color to explore a single color palette. Build an entire image—or image series—around it. Let color drive your lighting, styling, and emotional arc.

Music Credit:

🎵 “Color” by Wesley Jensen & The Penny Arcade – used with permission via Musicbed.

Stay Connected:

Follow the new Instagram feed at @terriblephotographer

or visit www.terriblephotographer.com to join the newsletter and get the first chapter of the upcoming book.

This one’s personal.

In this episode, Patrick shares the story of a full-blown burnout that ended behind a dumpster — and why it didn’t start there. We talk about what burnout really looks like (spoiler: it’s not just being tired), how the body reacts to prolonged stress, and how that quiet voice telling you you’ve “lost it” might just be your nervous system waving a white flag.

With insight from Dr. Michelle Hagel, a breakdown of chronic fight-or-flight, and a challenge for anyone teetering on the edge, this episode is for the creatives who feel dim — but aren’t done.

If you’ve been wondering why the spark is fading, or if you’ll ever feel like yourself again… this one’s for you.

Credits
Episode Photo by Caleb Wright | Unsplash

Subscribe to Field Notes

The podcast is the campfire, Field Notes is what you take home. Field Notes is the weekly email companion to this podcast, one part creative letter, one part behind-the-scenes mess, all bullshit-free.

→ Sign up here