Why you should cull your portfolio
If you’re a photographer, your portfolio is likely one of the things you hold most dear. It represents years of hard work, dedication and practice. So the idea of culling a host of images from your portfolio might not sit comfortably. I recently did this, though, and it’s one of the best things I’ve done for my work in a long time. In this blogpost, I’ll explain why I did so, and why you should think about doing it too.
This image survived the cull, despite being taken with the worst gear I’ve ever owned - Mid Wales - Canon 250D with kit lens
Why it matters
Having a portfolio of work is vital if you are looking to establish yourself as a photographer. Your portfolio will be what your potential clients will judge you by, it’ll be how other photographers gauge your abilities, and it will be your main source of pride and accomplishment for your photography. Because of this, you need your work to be the best representation of yourself.
Of course, if you’re just starting out, that might mean that you have a very small body of work. That’s how it should be; you shouldn’t try to “fill out” your portfolio with images that are are just “ok,” or, even worse, bad. This approach might seem tempting to make it look like you have more experience than you actually do. However, all this approach does is dilute your genuinely good work, and in the long term will negatively affect you.
The thing is, there will always be photos in your portfolio that, eventually, you should get rid of.
This image currently lives in my portfolio, but it’s a contender for being culled at some point. As I add more street photography to my work, this image will likely be replaced - Canon R7 - 24mm
When to cull
In truth, all of us should be constantly culling images from our portfolio. There will be some that last us our lifetime, but many will (and should) go.
We are all constantly trying to improve ourselves as photographers. And as a result of improving our work, our personal standards should also go up. Eventually, this means some of your images will just not represent who you are anymore.
Judging this can be tough, though. Some images might have a lot of personal meaning to you, or sometimes we just don’t know if an image is good enough or not. How can you make the right call?
This image used to be in my portfolio. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad photo. It just isn’t up to my personal standards anymore. I once thought' it was the pinnacle of achievement. Now, it falls below what I expect of myself, so it got culled.
How to make the right decision
It’s never easy culling your work. Some images may have taken a lot of work, or may have been part of your portfolio for a long time. However, there comes a point where we have to remove the images that are diluting our standards. And in short, there’s no simple answer as to what you should do.
The reason there’s no simple answer, is because we all have different reasons for keeping images in our portfolios, and we all have different standards and tastes. The only thing I can say is: “you’ll know when the time is right.”
If there is an image (or images) that is currently sitting in your portfolio, and your gut is telling you it’s not good enough for your standards (not someone else’s"), then it’s probably time for it to go. Trust your gut, and you’ll soon find that your portfolio reflects who you are much better, and you’ll have elevated your work as a whole for doing so.
Now, I’m off to find my culling tool.
