Why New People Matter to Your Creative Growth

One of the things I’ve learned—both as a photographer and an educator—is that growth rarely happens in isolation. It’s tempting to believe that we need to disappear into our own heads to evolve creatively, but in reality, my biggest breakthroughs have come from the people around me. Especially the new ones.

As someone who teaches, you’d think I’m the one doing most of the guiding. But as often than not, it’s the students—the attendees, the workshop participants, the eager creatives in the room—who end up teaching me something even if that teaching is a reminder to remember how i felt the first time i pushed a shutter button or set up a light or underexposed a background. They show up with fresh eyes, raw questions, and sometimes a kind of fearless curiosity that I’ve forgotten how to hold onto.

Watching someone struggle through a creative block or finally connect a technical concept to an emotional result—it brings me back to things I used to know. Things I used to feel. I can’t count how many times I’ve found myself nodding along silently, thinking, Oh yeah… I remember that. The excitement of learning something for the first time. The freedom of not knowing “the rules” yet. The magic of just making something because it felt right.

It’s easy to lose touch with those moments. The longer you’re in the industry, the more outside forces start to wear down that instinctual part of the process. Expectations, algorithms, deadlines, brand positioning—it can all slowly erode your connection to why you started creating in the first place. But being around new creatives? It acts like a reset. Their energy wakes something up in me.

When I invite new people into my creative circle—whether that’s collaborating with someone unexpected or just listening deeply to someone at the start of their journey—I get exposed to different ways of seeing. Different questions. Different values. And that helps me remember that creativity isn’t just about perfecting a craft. It’s about keeping your eyes, ears, and mind open.

It’s not always comfortable. Sometimes I have to let go of habits that feel safe. I have to admit that someone with far less experience might see something I’ve overlooked. But that humility is where growth lives. And as an educator, if I’m not learning too, I’m doing it wrong.

So whether you’re just starting out or decades into your creative path, I can’t recommend this enough: keep adding new people to your circle. Let them into your process. Ask them what they see. Listen to what excites them. Pay attention to how they think through a problem or take a risk. You might find yourself remembering something you didn’t even know you forgot.

And that remembering? That’s evolution. And this post is a thank you to every collaboration i've done, every workshop attendee. Every student or person that asked a question online. A shout out to the photographers that have come in and out of my circle over the years - you are gone but not forgotten.

 Thank you. I needed it.