Too Close to See Clearly

Yesterday’s photos aren’t the same photos today

Screenshot of One Shot Award Summer Edition 2024

I believe that photos have lives of their own—not just the ones printed and framed, but all of them, even the rejects sitting in old Lightroom catalogs. They breathe, they shift, they demand more from you as time stretches on. Sometimes, they’re like strangers you met once at a party who suddenly feel familiar years later. That was the case with a photo I took in 2021 in my little one-bedroom apartment in Porto, using nothing more than a cheap Yongnuo flashgun. Four years later, that same photo—forgotten, almost discarded—found its way to the One Shot Award in Berlin. It’s part of the top 50 longlist, displayed on an enormous digital screen for everyone to see. Wild, right?

Self-portrait selected for exhibition

It feels strange because, back then, I didn’t think much of it. At the time, it felt… good but nothing incredible. Probably because I was too close to it—both literally and emotionally. When you’re staring at a brand-new photo, scrutinizing every pixel and making judgment calls in that moment, it’s like standing nose-to-nose with a painting. You can’t take it all in. The details overwhelm you; the flaws jump out. But when you let it sit, create some emotional space, that’s when things start to change. My 2021 self couldn’t see this photo the way I do now, let alone imagine it would hold its own in a Berlin gallery. Sometimes, we just need to step back to see the bigger frame.

The reverse is just as true though. Some images you initially fall in love with don’t age well. You know the ones I’m talking about—the photos you were ready to print immediately, only to cringe at later. They burn bright and fizzle out fast. It’s proof that first impressions can be deceiving when it comes to your own work. Patience doesn’t just help your photos catch their breath; it helps you recalibrate your perspective too. It’s a kind of creative time-travel, revisiting moments with fresh eyes and, if you’re lucky, a little more wisdom.

So maybe the best thing we can do for our photos is to leave them alone for a while, forget about them, let them age like wine instead of milk. You might come back later and discover the unnoticed magic in a shot you were once too close to. Or, if nothing else, you’ll see the ones that can’t hold up and give yourself permission to move on. Either way, time always tells the truth—about everything, including your photos.