OFFICIAL STATEMENT
A NEW APPROACH TO SOCIAL MEDIA
There’s a tension in what we do as outdoor-inspired artists and creators. We head into the wilderness to experience it fully — the silence, the vastness, the beauty. But at the same time, we feel the pull to document and share those moments. Sharing our work can be an important part of the artistic process. For that reason, I was an early adopter of social media.
What a journey it’s been. I have had the good fortune of meeting so many incredible people and witnessing how others show up for my work. This has been a truly global community that has helped to keep me buoyant through the ups and downs of running a photography business.
Yet, as we’ve all discovered, especially in recent years, social media has transformed into something that goes well beyond simply sharing. The algorithms have hard-wired us to repackage wilderness experiences for endless consumption. Video became the best tool in our kit. We have been taught that to survive as a photographer, we must be “content creators,” not only capturing the scene but also what’s happening behind the scenes. I have enjoyed many parts of that process, but I don’t like the motivations behind it. It reduces the creative journey to online metrics; marketability taints the process and the wilderness experience, both for the artist and the audience.
I’ve grown tired of the ever-growing demands on social media that go beyond sharing my work, fulfilling contracts with my valued clients, and inviting people into a conversation. There is pressure to think in terms of engaging captions, post performance, followers, and content creation. These concepts don’t only conflict with an artistic approach, but also present an inevitable contradiction for anyone who cherishes a life centered around nature. This kind of content creation takes time away from the things I love most about the outdoor experience.
And then, there’s the fact that algorithms are constantly moving the goalposts. From what I’ve gathered from analytics, for example, much of my audience on Facebook isn’t seeing my work. My metrics show that, in general, even the “best-performing” posts are reaching 5% of my audience. What was once a way to share my work now feels like a constant struggle against a system that doesn’t serve me.
As the mental load of meeting these demands grows increasingly unsustainable, I want to return to using social media on my own terms.
So I’m stepping back — not disappearing, just recalibrating and steering things in a new direction to focus on quality and community. As a first step, I will no longer be posting on my Facebook Page by the end of May 2025. Instead, I will be focusing my efforts on other platforms, in particular Substack, which is where I want to consolidate my online activity. I plan to reduce how often I post and instead look for ways to engage meaningfully with my community.
I’m not here to tell anyone else what to do, only to be honest about where I’m at. This is what feels right. And if my work reaches fewer people, but resonates more deeply, that is more important to me than numbers.
With that, I want to stay connected with you. It will take time to find that sweet spot, especially for those of us who have long relied on it for our business, who have dependents, and so on. This is the first of many steps towards what I hope will be a more sustainable relationship with the online world, and a return toward true connection, both with people and wild places.
For now, here’s where I’m hoping to develop stronger, more meaningful communities:
→ I encourage you all to subscribe to Fuelled by Creativity on Substack (free and paid options) and consider downloading the Substack app to experience all of the benefits of this platform. Check it out here first.
→ For those of you on Facebook, please follow my Profile instead (Use the Follow option on my profile, not Friend Request).
→ I will also remain active on Instagram, LinkedIn, and 500px.