Photography Breakthrough System

Matthew Jordan Smith
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Visual Arts
  • Weekly

Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast, the place where burnt out photographers come back to life. Where fear gets replaced with confidence and where your gift finally starts working for you, not against you.

  1. 5d ago

    Episode 65 - You’re Doing Better Than You Think

    You’re Doing Better Than You Think I know it is hard to believe, but here we are. October 26, 2026. If you are listening to this podcast on the day it comes out, this is the last Monday of October. The year has flown by. And maybe you are beginning to look back at your year and wonder: Why wasn’t it better? Why didn’t I accomplish more? Why am I not further along? But here is the thing: You are probably doing better than you think. I know that may not be what your brain is telling you. Your brain is probably keeping a very detailed list of everything you haven’t finished. The project you haven’t started. The email you haven’t sent. The client you haven’t landed. The money you haven’t made. The thing you promised yourself back in January that you were finally going to do. Our minds are very good at keeping track of what is missing. They are not nearly as good at celebrating how far we have come. So today, just for a moment, forget about everything you haven’t done. Think about what you survived this year. Think about what you learned. Think about the days when you didn’t feel motivated, but you kept going anyway. I have been there. I have had those days too. Think about the mistakes that taught you something. Think about the people you met. The things you created. The chances you took. And yes, even think about some of the things that didn’t work out. Because sometimes the thing that didn’t work out was quietly pushing you toward something better. Creative careers are funny that way. We spend so much time waiting for the big breakthrough that we miss all the little breakthroughs happening around us. A new idea. A new connection. A better question. A little more courage. A little less fear. Sometimes progress does not look like fireworks. Sometimes progress does not announce itself. Sometimes it simply looks like getting out of bed and trying again. And that counts. So here is what I want you to do before October ends. Take a moment and give yourself some credit. Seriously. You don’t need a trophy. You don’t need applause. You don’t even need anybody else to know. Just stop for a moment and say: You know what? I kept going. And that is worth something. And if October wasn’t your month, I have some good news. November is coming. And if November isn’t your month, December is right behind it. Life keeps giving us another page. So keep making things. Keep laughing. Keep experimenting. Keep sending the email. Keep taking the photograph. Keep writing the song. Keep painting. Keep dancing. Keep dreaming those ridiculous dreams. And please, don’t wait until you feel completely ready. Because nobody knows what they are doing all the time. Some people are simply better at looking confident while they figure it out. You do not have to have everything figured out to be headed in the right direction. Let me say that again: You do not have to have everything figured out to be headed in the right direction. So before October ends, give yourself a little credit. You are still here. You are still creating. You are still becoming. And your story is not finished yet. I’m Matthew Jordan Smith, and this is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I’ll see you in November. Until then, always dream big. Bye for now.

  2. Oct 18

    Episode 64 - Why Everyone Else’s Success Is Making You Question Your Own Creativity

    Why Everyone Else’s Success Is Making You Question Your Own Creativity Welcome back to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Today, I want to talk to painters, photographers, writers, designers, filmmakers, musicians, actors, illustrators, and anyone who has ever tried to make something creative and put a piece of themselves into the world. I want to begin with a simple question: Have you ever opened Instagram feeling perfectly fine about your life and closed it feeling like you weren’t doing enough? You see somebody announcing a new exhibition. Someone else just landed a major campaign. Another person has a new book. Somebody else is traveling around the world doing something incredible in a breathtaking location. Someone has a million followers. Another artist seems to be having the career you thought you would have by now. And suddenly, without even realizing it, you stop looking at their life and start judging yours. Why isn’t this happening for me? Am I behind? Am I not good enough? Did I miss my moment? Should I be doing what they’re doing? And maybe one of the most dangerous questions of all: Maybe I’m just not as talented as I thought I was. If you have ever felt that way, this episode is for you. Because comparison may be one of the greatest threats to creativity today. Not because seeing great work is bad. Great work should inspire us. The problem begins when inspiration turns into measurement. When somebody else’s career becomes the ruler you use to measure your own. That is a dangerous game. Because you are comparing your entire life to a tiny piece of somebody else’s. You are seeing the exhibition. You are not seeing the years, maybe decades, when nobody cared. You are seeing the awards. You are not seeing the rejection letters. You are seeing the finished painting. You are not seeing the hundred failures that came before it. You are seeing the photograph that went viral. You are not seeing the thousands that didn’t. Everyone sees the success. Very few people see the cost. And yet we take those tiny pieces of information and use them to make enormous conclusions about ourselves. They’re winning. I’m losing. But listen to me carefully: Somebody else’s success is not evidence of your failure. Let me say that again. Somebody else’s success is not evidence of your failure. Their moment does not mean your moment isn’t coming. Their opportunity does not mean there are fewer opportunities for you. Their path does not determine the speed of yours. But the problem with comparison goes even deeper. Because eventually, comparison can start changing your work. You see what gets attention, so you begin making more of that. You see what gets likes, so you start creating something similar. You notice which photographer gets hired, and slowly your photography begins to look like theirs. You see what kind of paintings are selling. What music is trending. What videos are going viral. What kind of work galleries seem to want. And without realizing it, the question changes. It goes from: What do I want to create? to: What should I create so people will pay attention to me? Those are two very different questions. And over time, something extremely important begins to disappear. You. Your curiosity. Your instincts. Your strange ideas. Your mistakes. Your experiences. The things that make absolutely no sense to anybody else but somehow make perfect sense to you. Those are often the beginnings of your creative voice. And today, more than ever, you need your own voice. Creative voice is fragile in the beginning. It needs experimentation. It needs failure. It needs privacy. It needs periods when nobody understands what you’re doing. Sometimes that is exactly when you are on the right path. But today, we create in a world where everything feels like it needs to be shared immediately. We make something. We post it. Then we wait. Did people like it? Did they comment? Did it perform? Did the algorithm like it? And before we have even had time to decide what we think about our own work, we are asking the entire world what it thinks. That is backwards. As an artist, the first relationship you need to develop is with your own instincts. Everybody is not going to understand what you are doing. Especially in the beginning. You need to know what moves you before you become obsessed with what moves everybody else. There will always be trends. There will always be somebody more popular. Somebody younger. Somebody with more followers. Better connections. Someone who seems to be moving faster than you. You cannot build a creative life trying to outrun everybody. You will exhaust yourself. And even worse, you may reach the finish line and realize you were running somebody else’s race. One of the great gifts of staying in a creative career for a long time is eventually understanding that there is no single timeline. Some people explode onto the scene at 22. Some create their most important work at 42. Some at 62. Some at 82. Creativity does not have an expiration date. Your path does not have to look like everybody else’s. But you do have to protect it. So I want to give you a challenge this week. It is very simple. Make something you have absolutely no intention of showing anyone. That’s right. Create something you plan to show to no one. Don’t post it. Don’t send it to a client. Don’t put it on your website. Don’t put it on social media. Don’t ask your friends what they think. Create something that has absolutely no purpose beyond the experience of creating. And while you are doing it, ask yourself: If nobody were ever going to see this, what would I make? That is a powerful question for an artist. Because suddenly there is no algorithm. No audience. No likes. No competition. There is simply you and the thing you want to create. Maybe you are a photographer and you take your camera somewhere you have never photographed before. Maybe you are a painter and you work with colors you have always been afraid to use. Maybe you are a writer and you write something you would never publish. Maybe you are a musician and you create a song that fits no genre. Maybe you are a filmmaker and you shoot something simply because you love the light. Maybe you are a designer and you make something completely impractical. Whatever your medium is, give yourself permission to play again. Remember play? Before everything became content. Before every creative decision became part of a business strategy. Before you worried about whether something would perform. Most of us started creating because something about it made us feel alive. We weren’t thinking about followers. We weren’t thinking about branding. We weren’t thinking about algorithms. We certainly weren’t thinking about optimizing anything. We were fascinated. Curious. Excited. We wanted to see what would happen. I think every creative needs to return to that place occasionally. Because that is often where breakthroughs begin. Not when you are desperately trying to create the next successful thing. But when you are curious enough to try something that might completely fail. And here is something else I want you to remember: The world does not need another version of the artist you are comparing yourself to. We already have them. What we don’t have is the version of you that hasn’t fully shown up yet. The photographer you might become. The painter. The writer. The designer. The musician. The filmmaker. The artist you might become if you stop asking whether your work looks like somebody else’s and start asking whether it looks like you. That is a harder path. Imitation gives you a map. Being yourself does not. You have to discover your own path while you are walking it. And sometimes that means being misunderstood. Sometimes it means making work that gets very little attention. Sometimes it means following an idea long before anybody else sees its value. That does not mean you are lost. It may mean you are finally going somewhere that is actually yours. So this week, when you see somebody else’s success, celebrate it. Let it remind you that possibilities exist. But do not turn their success into evidence against yourself. Their chapter is not your chapter. Their timeline is not yours. We all have our own story. Our own path to take. Close social media for a while if you need to. Put down the phone. Walk into your studio. Your room. Your creative space. Pick up the brush. The camera. The notebook. Sit at the piano. Create something. Not because somebody is waiting for it. Not because it will generate likes. Not because it will make money. Not because it is what you are supposed to be doing. Make something because you need to know what happens when you follow your own curiosity. And then tomorrow, do it again. Because your breakthrough may not come from watching what everybody else is doing. It may come when you finally become quiet enough to hear what you want to do. I am on the path just like you. It is not always easy. But stay on your path. Stop comparing. Start creating. It is a great thing to be an artist. It is not always easy, but some of your best work may come from the struggles you experience along the way. So keep pushing. Keep creating. And stop comparing. I’m Matthew Jordan Smith, and this is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I look forward to seeing you right back here next week. Until then, always dream big. Bye for now.

  3. Oct 11

    Episode 63 - Don't Compete With AI. Become More Human

    Don’t Compete With AI. Become More Human. Welcome back to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I hope you listened to last week’s episode. If you didn’t, I want you to go back and listen to Part One first, because today we’re going deeper into that conversation. And I want to begin with one question: What can you give people that AI cannot? Think about that for a second. What can you give people that artificial intelligence simply cannot? Because I believe one of the biggest mistakes creatives can make right now is trying to compete with AI at the things AI does extremely well. Speed. Volume. Variation. Automation. You are not going to win that battle. So instead, let’s think differently. What becomes more valuable precisely because technology is becoming more powerful? Human connection. Trust. Taste. Experience. Meaning. Your story. And this is a big one: Human presence. Those are enormous opportunities. So instead of asking: “How can I beat AI?” Ask yourself: How can AI make me better at the work only I can do? That is a completely different mindset. Yes, use technology where it helps you. Many of us are using AI every day. It can be an incredible assistant. But remember: It is an artificial assistant. Use it to brainstorm. Organize. Research. Build presentations. Develop concepts. Solve problems. Handle repetitive tasks. Learn faster. But then take some of the time that technology saves you and invest it back into becoming a more interesting human being. Spend more time with people. Listen more carefully. Study your craft. Create personal work. And when you create personal work, don’t ask whether anybody cares about it. Don’t ask whether they like it. Make it because you need to make it. It’s personal. Go somewhere unfamiliar. Have new experiences. Learn about the art you love. Learn about music. Learn about history. Study the people who came before you. Ask yourself: How did my craft begin? What was its original purpose? And what is its purpose now? And here’s another big one: Learn about people who are completely different from you. People from different cultures. Different beliefs. Different ideas. Different places. Because every experience you have gives you something new to bring back into your work. And there is one more thing I want you to do. Stop thinking of yourself simply as someone who makes something. A photographer. A painter. A designer. A writer. A filmmaker. A voiceover artist. Instead, start thinking about the value your work creates for another human being. That changes everything. If you are a portrait photographer, maybe your real work isn’t taking pictures. Maybe your work is helping somebody see themselves differently. If you are a wedding photographer, maybe your work isn’t simply documenting a wedding. Maybe you are preserving one of the few moments in a lifetime when several generations of a family will ever be together in the same place under joyful circumstances. If you are an artist, maybe you are giving physical form to something another person feels but cannot explain. If you are a designer, maybe you are helping someone communicate an idea clearly enough that another human being finally understands it. These are human outcomes. And the clearer you become about the transformation you provide, the harder it becomes to reduce your value to a button. We are now in the second week of October 2026. The final quarter of this year has begun. So I want to challenge you. For the next 90 days, stop spending your energy asking whether AI is going to take something away from you. Ask what you can build. Ask what you can learn. Ask who you can help. Ask what part of yourself you have been afraid to put into your work. And then get to work. Make the project you’ve been thinking about. Reach out to the person you’ve been afraid to contact. Learn the new technology instead of hiding from it. But at the same time, go deeper into the parts of your work technology cannot replace. Your relationships. Your reputation. Your experience. Your taste. Your story. Your ability to make another person feel something. Because the future of creativity is not simply human versus machine. The movies may have trained us to think that way. But I don’t believe that is the opportunity in front of us. The future will be shaped by people who know how to use powerful technology while remaining deeply human. And maybe that is the opportunity hiding inside all this uncertainty. When everybody can create more, meaning matters more. When everybody can generate something beautiful, point of view matters more. When everything becomes faster, trust matters more. And when technology becomes everywhere, being genuinely human may become one of the most valuable things you have. So don’t disappear. Don’t shrink. Don’t convince yourself that your best days are behind you. They’re not. Adapt. Learn. Experiment. But keep your humanity at the center of everything you create. Because maybe we have spent too many years believing the technology was the most important part. It never was. People don’t need more content. They need more perspective. They need more experience. They need the way you see. And somewhere out there, someone may be waiting for something that only you can create. I’m Matthew Jordan Smith, and this is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Keep learning. Keep evolving. Keep creating. And most importantly, keep believing that your creativity still has a place in the future. I look forward to seeing you right back here next week. Until then, always dream big. Bye for now.

  4. Oct 4

    Episode 62 - AI Is Changing Everything. But Your Creativity Still Matters

    AI Is Changing Everything. But Your Creativity Still Matters. Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. As we begin October, I want to talk about something I know is sitting quietly in the minds of a lot of creatives: artists, designers, writers, photographers, filmmakers, voiceover artists, and creators everywhere. It’s AI. And more specifically, it’s the fear surrounding AI. Maybe you’ve wondered: What happens to photography when everyone can generate an image? What happens to design? What happens to writing? What happens to illustration? What happens to all the years you’ve spent learning your craft? And maybe the question underneath all of those questions is even more personal: Will there still be a place for me? I believe the answer is yes. But I also think we have to be honest. Things are changing, and they’re changing fast. Whenever technology changes an industry, fear usually arrives before clarity. I’ve lived through enormous changes in photography. Film to digital. Darkrooms to Photoshop. Print portfolios to websites. Websites to social media. DSLRs to mirrorless cameras. Every time something changed, somebody said photography was finished. But photography didn’t disappear. It evolved. And photographers had to evolve with it. Yes, AI is an enormous shift. Maybe one of the biggest we will ever experience. But I want you to remember something: Technology can generate an image. It cannot live your life. It didn’t experience your childhood. It didn’t experience your failures. Your victories. Your heartbreak. Your relationships. Your culture. Your curiosity. It didn’t spend years looking at the world and slowly developing a way of seeing that belongs only to you. And that matters now more than ever. You are unique. That’s the way the Creator made you. Look at your fingerprint for a second. Out of billions of people on this planet, nobody has a fingerprint exactly like yours. That’s how unique you are. The most important thing you bring to your creative work is not simply your ability to operate a camera, hold a brush, use your voice, or master any other creative tool. It is your point of view. Your taste. Your judgment. Your ability to walk into a room and understand another human being. Your ability to recognize a moment before anyone else sees it. Your ability to make somebody feel safe enough to reveal something real. Those aren’t camera skills. Those aren’t software skills. Those are human skills. And right now, human skills may become even more valuable in a world where creating something technically impressive becomes easier. Think about that. If everybody has access to incredible tools, the tool itself becomes less important. So what becomes more important? You do. What you have to say becomes more important. Your relationships become more important. Your point of view becomes more important. Yes, AI might make it possible to create a beautiful image in seconds. But beautiful images have never been enough. There are already billions of beautiful images in the world. The real question has always been: Why should I care about this one? Why should I remember it? Why should I remember you? That is where humanity enters the picture. And I want every creative listening to this to understand something as we begin October 2026: Do not spend the next three months being afraid of the future. Spend them preparing yourself for it. Learn. Experiment. Stay curious. But don’t abandon the things that make you human in an attempt to compete with a machine. Go deeper into them. Your story. Your relationships. Your curiosity. Your empathy. Your ability to connect. Your ability to see. Those things are not becoming less important. They are becoming more important. So if you’re sitting there wondering whether you should keep creating or find something else to do, I want to tell you: Keep creating. If you’ve been afraid that you missed your moment, you haven’t. If you’ve been wondering whether your voice still matters, it does. Maybe more than ever. But there is another side to this conversation. Because hope alone isn’t enough. We also have to prepare. Next week, in Part Two, we’re going to talk about how creatives can actually move forward in the age of AI. And the answer is not fighting technology. It’s learning how to move forward without losing the very thing that makes your work matter in the first place. Make sure you join me next week, because this conversation is extremely important if you want to do more than survive this transition. I want you to thrive through it. I’m Matthew Jordan Smith, and this is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I look forward to seeing you right back here next week. You don’t want to miss Part Two. Until then, always dream big. Bye for now.

  5. Sep 27

    Episode 61 - How to Stop Fearing Rejection

    How to Stop Fearing Rejection Speaker: Hello, and welcome to Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Speaker: Today, I wanna talk about a word that nobody likes, no. Speaker: No, thank you. Speaker: Not right now. Speaker: We decided to go in another direction. Speaker: We're looking for something different. Speaker: We'll keep your information on file. Speaker: Everyone knows what this feels like, especially those who work in creative fields. Speaker: You send an email. Speaker: You submit the portfolio. Speaker: You pitch the client. Speaker: You enter the competition. Speaker: You show work that matters deeply to you, and the answer is no. Speaker: Or sometimes even worse, there is no answer at all. Speaker: You hear crickets, silence, and that can hurt, especially when you care. Speaker: I get it. Speaker: Because rejection has a way of becoming personal very quickly. Speaker: We don't hear this particular opportunity, this particular opportunity didn't work out, we hear, "I'm not good enough." Speaker: We don't hear they chose someone else. Speaker: We hear, my work isn't good enough. Speaker: We don't hear, this isn't the right fit. Speaker: What we hear in our mind is, maybe I don't belong here. Speaker: And that is where rejection becomes dangerous. Speaker: Not because someone said no, but because of the story we begin telling ourselves afterwards. Speaker: Today, I want you to change that story. Speaker: Because rejection is not always evidence that you are failing. Speaker: Sometimes rejection is evidence that you are finally in the game. Speaker: Think about it. Speaker: You could not be rejected for an opportunity you never pursued. Speaker: You cannot hear no from the client you never contacted. Speaker: You cannot lose a competition you never entered. Speaker: You cannot have a gallery decline your work if you never show it to them. Speaker: And you cannot be turned down for something you were too afraid to ask for. Speaker: So if you are hearing no sometimes, good. Speaker: It means you are asking. Speaker: And maybe this is the more important part. Speaker: It means you're reaching beyond what's comfortable. Speaker: You're putting yourself into situations where something is actually at stake. Speaker: And that, my friends, is where growth happens. Speaker: Now, trust me, I'm not saying rejection feels good. Speaker: I know it doesn't. Speaker: I'm also not saying that every rejection should simply be ignored. Speaker: Because sometimes rejection contains very powerful information. Speaker: Maybe your work does need to be stronger. Speaker: Or improvements on your presentation. Speaker: Or maybe your pricing is wrong. Speaker: Whatever it is. Speaker: Maybe you simply need more time. Speaker: Those are all things we can learn from. Speaker: But there's a huge difference between learning from rejection and allowing rejection to define you. Speaker: One helps you grow and the other makes you stop. Speaker: And stopping is the real danger. Speaker: I've been working as a creative photographer for a long time, and I can tell you this. Speaker: There has never been a level where rejection completely disappeared. Speaker: Success doesn't remove rejection. Speaker: Experience doesn't remove rejection. Speaker: Awards don't remove rejection. Speaker: A stronger portfolio doesn't remove rejection. Speaker: You simply start asking bigger questions. Speaker: You pursue bigger opportunities. Speaker: You enter different rooms, and that means there are new opportunities to hear no. Speaker: So perhaps the goal isn't to create a life where nobody rejects you. Speaker: Maybe instead, the goal is to become somebody who is no longer destroyed by rejection. Speaker: Someone who can hear no and say, "Okay, what can I learn? What can I improve? And what's next?" Speaker: That last question is important. Speaker: What's next? Speaker: Not, what's wrong with me? Speaker: Not, why does this always happen to me? Speaker: Not, maybe I should quit. Speaker: What's next? Speaker: Because one no does not know what the next person will say. Speaker: One client does not speak for every client. Speaker: One gallery does not speak for every gallery. Speaker: One judge does not speak for every judge. Speaker: And one closed door does not mean there are no other doors. Speaker: Sometimes you gotta kick the door down. Speaker: Now listen closely because this part's important. Speaker: You don't need everybody to say yes. Speaker: Sometimes you have to go through 10, 20 nos to get to that yes. Speaker: But once you get to the yes, all the no's before, they don't matter. Speaker: So this week, I have a challenge for you. Speaker: I want you to earn one no. Speaker: Yes. Speaker: I actually want you to go out and earn a rejection. Speaker: Send that email that you are afraid to send. Speaker: Contact that client you think is beyond your level. Speaker: Ask for that meeting. Speaker: Show somebody your work. Speaker: Submit to an opportunity. Speaker: Make an offer, pitch an idea, do something where no is a genuine possibility. Speaker: Because if no is possible, yes is possible too. Speaker: I wanna thank you for your time today, and I hope this resonated with one person. Speaker: If it did, send me a message. Speaker: I'd love to hear from you. Speaker: Doing a podcast can feel lonely at times. Speaker: It's like you're-- sometimes you feel like you're talking to no one. Speaker: But if you hear this and it made a difference, drop me a line. Speaker: You can find me on Instagram under my name Matthew Jordan Smith. Speaker: Drop a line. Speaker: Say hello. Speaker: Let's start a conversation. Speaker: I'd love to hear from you. Speaker: All right, everyone, thank you for your time today. Speaker: Always dream big, and until next time, bye for now.

  6. Sep 20

    Episode 60 - Stop Waiting to Feel Ready

    Stop Waiting to Feel Ready Speaker: Wait, wait, no, I'm not ready yet. Speaker: Uh, oh, we're on? Speaker: Oh. Speaker: Today, I wanna talk about something that stops a lot of very talented people, waiting. Speaker: Waiting until you feel ready. Speaker: Waiting into your work is better. Speaker: Waiting until you have the right tools, waiting until you have more money, waiting until your website is perfect, waiting until you have enough followers. Speaker: But there's a bigger one today. Speaker: Waiting until somebody gives you permission. Speaker: Or maybe you're waiting until you feel confident. Speaker: And the problem is, sometimes you can spend years waiting for a feeling that never comes. Speaker: Because the truth is, you may never feel completely ready. Speaker: A lot of people believe that confidence comes first. Speaker: They think, first I'll become confident, then I'll do the big thing. Speaker: But most of the time it works the other way around. Speaker: You do the thing and you survive it. Speaker: You learn from it. Speaker: You get a little better and confidence begins to grow. Speaker: Confidence is often the result of action, not the requirement for it. Speaker: Think about the first time you did anything monumental in your life. Speaker: Maybe it was picking up a camera for the first time or picking up a brush to paint. Speaker: Were you ready when you first started? Speaker: Of course not. Speaker: You didn't understand everything. Speaker: Maybe you didn't understand what made your work powerful. Speaker: And somewhere along the way, through doing it over and over again, you learned. Speaker: That's how almost everything in life works. Speaker: We begin before we fully understand. Speaker: We begin before we're really fully prepared. Speaker: We begin before we are completely confident. Speaker: And then the process teaches us what we need to know. Speaker: But as we get older, something strange happens. Speaker: We become more afraid to be beginners. Speaker: We become more afraid to look inexperienced, more afraid to make mistakes. Speaker: More afraid to create something that isn't great. Speaker: So instead of beginning, we spend endless time preparing, and prepare, and prepare some more. Speaker: Yes. Speaker: Now being prepared is important. Speaker: I believe deeply in preparation. Speaker: But preparation also becomes a disguise for fear. Speaker: Sometimes we tell ourself, "I'm just not ready yet." Speaker: Have you ever felt that before? Speaker: Have you ever said that before? Speaker: Because what we really mean is, "I don't want anyone to see me trying." Speaker: That's different. Speaker: Maybe you want to try something new that's been eating at you for a long time, but you feel you're just not ready yet. Speaker: You feel your work needs just one more shot. Speaker: Maybe it's your prices. Speaker: Maybe you want to raise your prices, but you think you need a little more experience. Speaker: Maybe you wanna write that book, begin that personal project, but you think you need a perfect concept first, a perfect idea first. Speaker: Maybe you want to teach. Speaker: Have an exhibit. Speaker: Change directions completely from what you've done all your life. Speaker: And you keep telling yourself, "Soon. Maybe I'll be ready soon." Speaker: Soon I'll start. Speaker: Soon I'll send the email. Speaker: Soon I'll make that call. Speaker: Soon I'll put the work out there. Speaker: But soon is a very comfortable place to hide. Speaker: And years, decades can pass, your life can pass as you sit out and wait in soon. Speaker: One of the most dangerous things about waiting is that it feels responsible. Speaker: It feels like you're being careful. Speaker: It feels like you're being smart. Speaker: But sometimes you're just not prepared for the opportunity. Speaker: You're avoiding it. Speaker: There is no moment when something suddenly taps you on the shoulder and says, "Okay, you're ready now. Go." Speaker: That's not gonna happen. Speaker: Most of the things that changed my life began before I had all the answers. Speaker: I didn't know where every opportunity would lead next. Speaker: I still don't know. Speaker: But you gotta push yourself to do those things that you don't know, where you don't know the outcome. Speaker: At some point, you have to make the move because movement creates information. Speaker: Action teaches you things thinking cannot. Speaker: You learn what works. Speaker: You learn what doesn't. Speaker: You learn what you need. Speaker: And you learn what you don't need. Speaker: But here's the most important part. Speaker: You learn something about yourself. Speaker: You learn that you are capable of more, more than you thought. Speaker: Now here's something I want you to remember today. Speaker: I heard this a lot: you don't have to see the entire staircase to take the first step. Speaker: You only need enough courage to take that first step. Speaker: Maybe your next step is very small. Speaker: Maybe it's just posting one image today. Speaker: Contacting a potential client. Speaker: Or approaching somebody who you've never met before. Speaker: That small step, it matters more than all the other steps. Speaker: Take that first step because action creates momentum, and momentum changes everything. Speaker: I have met so many people who say, "Oh yeah, I want to do a book. I'm planning to do this book. I'm working on this." Speaker: And they put it off, and years go by and nothing happens. Speaker: And pretty soon they forget they're even working on a book. Speaker: Stop waiting. Speaker: Today is your day to take that first step. Speaker: Take that first step today, no matter what. Speaker: Before you close your eyes today, before you go to sleep, take one step that you were afraid to do. Speaker: That first little step. Speaker: And then tomorrow, take another small step. Speaker: That's all it takes. Speaker: Always dream big. Speaker: Bye for now.

  7. Sep 13

    Episode 59 - What If They Hate It The Courage to Create Anyways

    What If They Hate It? The Courage to Create Anyways Speaker: Fear, Courage, and Creative Breakthroughs Speaker: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. This is your host, Matthew Jordan Smith. I want to welcome you to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. And today, I wanna talk about fear. Not the kind of fear that comes when you're physically in danger. We all know about that Speaker: And maybe right now you're, you're feeling fearful about things that are happening around in the world today. I get that Speaker: But today I wanna talk about a different type of fear. I'm talking about the fear that quietly stops us from doing the things we really want to do I'm talking about the fear of failing Speaker: and the fear of being judged Speaker: The fear that somebody might look at what you're creating and say, "That's not good enough." And sometimes maybe the biggest fear of all What if I try and nothing happens? You see, I see that fear all the time. I hear it almost every day. It doesn't matter what country you're living in Speaker: It's ubiquitous Speaker: There's a phrase that's widely attributed to the great artist, one of my favorites, Henri Matisse Speaker: Creativity takes courage Speaker: I love that phrase because creativity does take courage. To create something that already looks like everything else doesn't require much courage. But to follow something inside you Speaker: To make something that other people may not understand, to put your name on it, and then put it out in the world, that, my friends, that takes courage. And Matisse, that great artist, he knew something about that. You see, the year was 1913, and his work was included in the International Exhibition of Modern Art, better known as the Armory Show Speaker: If you live in New York City, we all know about The Armory Show. It's talked about left and right Speaker: But back in 1913, after opening in New York, the exhibition traveled to the Art Institute of Chicago Speaker: Today we think about Henri Matisse as one of the greatest artists in the 20th century. But imagine being Matisse back then, 1913. Because when people in Chicago saw his work, some of them didn't celebrate it. Now, that's hard to believe when you think about the body of work that Matisse has done. Speaker: Back in the '90s, uh, I was a young photo assistant. Beginning of the '90s, early '90s, I was a young photo assistant, and there was a show at the time in New York. It was the biggest showing of the work of Matisse and Picasso together I went three times to try to get in the show because it was sold out the first two times I went. Speaker: All of New York was going to see this show, and I fell in love. It was the lifetime work of both artists. I fell in love with, with both artists even more that day But we're talking about 1913 Speaker: And he's not a really well-known artist in America at all, and he's showing his work in New York and Chicago at the Art Institute of Chicago Speaker: And people in Chicago, not everyone, but a lot of them, didn't like what they saw. They ridiculed it. This is Matisse, and people saw the work, art students, and they ridiculed his work Speaker: Students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago were so offended by the new art they were seeing that they organized a public protest. Think about that. Not just saying you don't like it, but making a public protest of the work. They held a mock trial of Matisse. Think about that They literally put this artist on trial. Speaker: And after finding him guilty, they burned reproductions of his paintings Speaker: Now these were art students, future artists, people being trained at one of the leading art schools in America Speaker: And they looked at Matisse's work and essentially said, "This isn't art Speaker: Now you read that, you hear about that, but think about being Matisse. Imagine what that must have felt like Speaker: But let's go further than that because that did happen. If that was you, what would you have done Speaker: Today, some people can't handle not getting a like on a post on Instagram Imagine being Matisse and having them put you on trial, a mock trial, for your art and find you guilty of making what they felt was junk, not worthy of being art Speaker: Now imagine if he had gone back to his studio and thought, "Maybe they're right Maybe I'm going too far because that happens. I've heard about it. I've seen it. Even this week, I got an email from a young photographer who was asking me about, you know, stuff on Instagram and basically feeling the same way because he wasn't getting enough likes Speaker: He's not the only one. I've heard that from so many people over the years, basically around social media and the acceptance of the work or getting, getting work, being hired, whatever, based on a like on social media Speaker: But let's go back to Matisse what if he had thought maybe I'm going too far? Maybe I should make my work look more like everyone else's. Maybe I should make something people will understand immediately. Maybe I should play it safe What would the world have lost Speaker: That brings me to you Speaker: What are you not doing because you're afraid? Speaker: What work are you afraid to make? What creative work are you afraid to make? What clients are you afraid to contact? What price are you afraid to charge? Speaker: What about your personal projects? The one you've been thinking about for years Speaker: What competition have you not entered? What email haven't you sent Speaker: What dream have you quietly convinced yourself is unrealistic? Speaker: Sometimes we think fear is telling us to stop Speaker: But I believe sometimes fear is telling us exactly where we need to go. Because the things that mean the most to us are often the things that scare us the most Speaker: If it doesn't matter to you, there's very little fear But when you really want something, when you care deeply about it Speaker: when it represents something important about who you are or who you want to become. Suddenly, the possibility of rejection becomes frightening Because now it feels personal But here's what I want you to think about today You may be treating the possibility of rejection as evidence that you shouldn't try When rejection may simply be the price of discovering what you're capable of Speaker: This is your wake-up call. Go out and do the thing that you are most afraid to do I'm Matthew Jordan Smith, and this is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I look forward to seeing you again next week. Always dream big. Bye for now

  8. Sep 6

    Episode 58 - The Photographer’s Gaze and Represent

    Speaker: Hello and welcome back to the show. Speaker: I'm photographer Matthew Jordan Smith Today we're going to talk about representation Today we're gonna talk about representation, race, power, and the photographer's gaze Let me begin with a question that every photographer should ask. Speaker: Who has the power when a photograph is made? Speaker: If we think back in history to images that we can all relate to right away, or many of us anyway Like the picture of the napalm girl from Vietnam. Speaker: Recently, that image has become controversial There's an entire Netflix special based on who really shot the image So who has the power when a photograph is made? Speaker: Is it the person standing in front of the camera? Speaker: Or is it the photographer looking through the viewfinder? Speaker: Or maybe it's the editor who selects the final image. Speaker: Or could it even be the publication that writes the caption? Speaker: Or yet again, is it the client who's paying for the assignment? Speaker: All valid questions today in 2026 When we think about copyright law, who owns the copyright? Speaker: The answer is the person who creates the image From that moment the image is made, the creator, the photographer, owns the copyright unless they sign it away Now yes, when it comes to very important images, it is the audience that ultimately decides what the image means Just a month ago, July 4th, 2026, there was an image that ran Mainly in America, that had a strong impact. Speaker: The image was of a Black woman When a train filled On a subway filled with What many have called the new face of the KKK And from the picture, everyone was young Hate is like a cancer And it affects the young and the old Now, photography can seem like a simple exchange. Speaker: One person stands on one side of the camera, another person on the other side and the relationship, it is rarely equal Photographer decides where to stand, where to place the camera chooses to frame and decides when to press the shutter The photographer determines what is included and what is excluded And later, if it's press, someone else decides which image will be published, how large it will appear, what words will surround it And what story the viewer is being asked to believe That is power If you had to pick the most powerful pitcher of 2026, now I know the year is not over yet at all This is just the first month of September But if you had to pick one picture that stood out in your mind this year, what would it be? Speaker: For me personally, it would be that photograph on the East Coast in the United States that took place on July 4th, 2026 which was the 250th anniversary for America What are we celebrating again? Speaker: Whenever photography intersects with race, culture, poverty, migration, conflict, gender, or identity, that power becomes even more important Today we are talking about one of the most complex and controversial subjects in photography, representation, race, power, and the photographer's gaze. Speaker: Who is behind the camera? Speaker: Who controls the narrative? Speaker: Can a photographer responsibly document a community they do not belong to It's a valid question When does visual storytelling become stereotyping? Speaker: When does cultural appreciation become Appropriation And why, oh why, oh why are marginalized communities so often photographed through pain, struggle, poverty, and trauma, but rarely through joy, imagination, success, intimacy, or ordinary life? Speaker: Now, I'm not saying that this conversation is about telling photographers... Speaker: Now, I'm not saying that This conversation is not about telling photographers that they cannot only photograph people who look like them. Speaker: I'm not saying that It's not about creating fear around for reffing across cultures It is about becoming more conscious of the responsibility that comes with the camera Because photography does not simply show the world Photography, real photography, authentic photography helps shape how the world is understood And this is one of the dangers of AI I know last month we talked all about AI But when it comes to the truth We have seen how AI is being manipulated. Speaker: We have seen how AI is being used to manipulate the truth Last month in Japan, there was a 7.1 earthquake Right away almost, someone was using AI to distort the truth There is a responsibility that comes with the camera Let's dive into the photographer's gaze When people use the phrase the photographer's gaze, they're talking about the perspective through which a person, culture, or event is seen Every photographer has a gaze That gaze is influenced by our experiences. Speaker: Yes, education, culture, assumptions, fear, desires, and beliefs Even when we think we are simply documenting what is in front of us, we are making choices We decide what is worth photographing We decide what feels beautiful We decide what feels threatening or what looks exotic or ordinary or powerful or vulnerable or dignified or tragic We may not consciously use those words, but those ideas influence the images we make Imagine that five photographers walk into the same neighborhood One photographer may focus on damaged buildings. Speaker: Another photographer may photograph children playing. Speaker: Another still, the local business owners While yet another searches for crime and poverty Another one still in that very same neighborhood may make intimate portraits of families inside their homes, showing love and family connection Now all five were in the same neighborhood, the same place, but they did not tell the same story. Speaker: Why? Speaker: Because photography is not simply a record of what was there It is a record of what the photographer chose to see That, my friends, is the gaze Yes, the camera may be mechanical, but seeing is never neutral We bring ourselves to every image That does not make photography dishonest. Speaker: It makes photography human But it also, but it also means photographers must take responsibility for the perspective they bring The first question is not only what am I photographing, the deeper question is why am I seeing the subject in this particular way? Speaker: is a bias. Speaker: That bias is caused by many factors What you see on the news, what you believe, how you were raised, and that affects what you take pictures of or how you take pictures The camera, it has a history of power To understand this controversy, we must or To understand this controversy, we must recognize that photography developed outs- alongside systems. Speaker: To understand this controversy, we must recognize that photography developed alongside systems of political, economic, and colonial power Cameras were used to document exploration, war, science, policing, medicine, race, empire and conquest And those photographs were often represented as objective evidence But many of those photographs reflected the reliefs-- But many of those photographs reflected the beliefs and power structures of the people making them Some communities were sometimes, some communities were sometimes photographed as strange or primitive, uncivilized, or available by observation I grew up seeing pictures of Africa But when I finally went for myself in twenty twenty-five, I saw a very different picture than the pictures that I saw when I was a child growing up With a camera, you decide what to, what to document You see, very often people were posed, measured, categorized, and displayed without meaningful control over how their images would be used. Speaker: The camera did not simply document difference It sometimes helped create and reinforce ideas about difference People from powerful nations frequently photographed communities they considered foreign or exotic in different ways that weren't flattering, and those images remain in our minds Those resulting images were then shown to audiences who had little direct knowledge of those communities. Speaker: The photograph became the viewer's evidence. Speaker: It said, "This is what these people are like." Now, whether that was true or not, we didn't know. Speaker: We had a photograph, and we believed it And sadly, the person being photographed often had no voice in that conclusion. Speaker: They did not choose the frame. Speaker: They did not write the caption they did not control the publication They may not even under have, they may not have even understood where the image would appear This history of photography still affects visual culture today But now it's being manipulated more than ever. Speaker: But now it's being manipulated more than ever We can see it today in travel photography that treats local people as visual decorations We see it in images that romanticize poverty We see it in photographs that represent entire countries as if they exist only through hunger, conflict, disease, and instability We see it when people from one culture are photographed as mysterious, timeless, or untouched by modern life even when that description has little relationship to the actual experience Now, the photographer may have good intentions, but good intentions do not automatically remove the influence of history. Speaker: That's why context matters We are not only making individual pictures, we are adding images to a much larger visual history So who controls the narrative? Speaker: A photograph does not speak entirely for itself Its meaning is shaped by selection, sequence, caption, placement, and context Imagine a photographer spends three weeks documenting a community. Speaker: During that time, the photographer makes thousands of images We are in the digital age, so that's very easy to do There are photographs of people laughing. Speaker: There are images of families eating together. Speaker: There are photographs of work, worship, music, education, celebration, frustration, and daily life. Speaker: But when the story

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About

Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast, the place where burnt out photographers come back to life. Where fear gets replaced with confidence and where your gift finally starts working for you, not against you.

Information

  • Creator
    Matthew Jordan Smith
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    74
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    Matthew Jordan Smith Copyright © 2025 All Right Reserved
  • Show Website
    Photography Breakthrough System