Why real moments matter more than perfect ones

I’ve spent years on commercial sets, working with athletes and well-known faces for some of the world’s major brands, on everything from social content to big campaigns. Those sets are built for perfection: the light, the styling, the take that’s repeated until it’s right. The work was challenging, exciting, and I learned a lot from it. But to some extent it was also not very rewarding or fulfilling.

It felt fake, artificial, dishonest.

It showed me how I am pulled more and more in the other direction. Pulled towards authenticity and real emotions. For in the age of the internet, Instagram filters and AI, what else is there that makes us feel alive than human interaction, with all its perfect imperfections?

Imperfect is not the same as wrong

A blurred laugh, a crooked tie, an aunt half out of frame, a child who wouldn’t sit still. On a campaign those would be outtakes. In your gallery they are often the photos that mean the most, because they show your day as it really was. They capture that one laugh, facial expression, that moment. Years from now nobody will care whether a picture was technically or aesthetically “perfect”, or perfect enough for our vainer online culture. They’ll care that it brings the moment back.

There’s a reason the grainy, half blurry film pictures our parents have in their old albums feel so nostalgic and full of memories. They are real. No filter, no pose, no trend. Just life.

Letting go of the performance

We’re all used to performing for the camera now. Holding in, finding the angle, thinking about how it will look online. It’s understandable, as our online world bombards you with tips, tricks and comparisons, but it takes you out of the moment you’re trying to remember.

The days I love most are the ones where people let that go. When nobody is worried about looking right, or whether it’s good enough for Instagram. Without the burden of an imaginary online comparison, life gets louder, warmer and a lot more fun. People laugh properly, hug longer, dance badly and don’t care. That’s when the best photos happen, and more importantly, that’s when you actually enjoy your day.

That’s what I love about this job

My part is simple: make you feel comfortable enough to forget about the camera, then stay out of the way while your day happens. What I get in return is being there for the real thing, and handing it back to you in a way you can keep.

If that’s how you’d like to remember your day, tell me about it