How to Develop Your Photographic Style

When I started taking photographs in the late 1990s, I did not think about developing my own style. I knew almost nothing about photography. I was simply fascinated by capturing a moment.

I saw exhibitions by Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson in Helsinki, and seeing their work inspired me to take up photography.

I bought a Nikon FE camera and attended a black-and-white photography course. Everything was still manual. On the course, we learned the basics of using a camera and completed simple photography assignments. Before I could even think about artistic expression, I had to learn how to use the camera.

More than 25 years later, I think that developing your own style begins precisely here. Not by deciding in advance what your photographs should look like, but by learning how to use the camera.

She, 1998.

Learn to Observe

During my first years in Helsinki, I carried a camera with me almost everywhere. I did not necessarily take photographs every time, but I wanted to have the camera with me in case something interesting happened.

With film photography, the number of frames was limited, and you could not see the photographs immediately. Sometimes you had to wait weeks for them. I did not want to waste film by taking photographs for no reason.

I found it hard to make sense of large spaces or distant situations through the viewfinder. Perhaps even then, subconsciously, I began moving closer to my subjects and towards situations that I could observe more closely and for longer periods of time. I photographed the people around me, friends, acquaintances and life at that time.

I became an observer. This way of working remained, even though my subjects later changed completely.

Hangover, 2002.

Give Yourself Permission to Experiment

Over the course of ten years of shooting only film, I developed into a good photographer of people, but over time I also photographed abstract things, played with filters and had fun with silly things, such as a burger I found on the road, which became a photo series as I carried it to different places and photographed it there — including on church steps.

Not every photograph needs to become an important project or end up in a portfolio. By experimenting freely, you can discover which subjects interest you, how you compose an image and what kinds of visual ideas you want to explore.

At a time when there was no social media, if you did not get into art school, it was very difficult to find a channel for your photographs or get them shown. Perhaps I would have needed more support and guidance along the way. But I didn't get into any of the schools — I simply struggled on my own and held onto my own ideas, even when it was genuinely frustrating.

For me, two or three truly successful photographs on one roll of film were enough. If the situation I had seen in the viewfinder had been captured on film in the way I intended, I considered the roll successful. I did not expect every frame to be good.

Nowadays, when I look at my old photographs, there are actually quite a few fine and interesting images among them, although some are also really bad.

Burger, 2003.

The Subject Can Change, but the Way of Seeing Remains

In 2010, I moved from film to digital photography. Around the same time, after spending 15 years in the south, I moved back to Northern Finland.

The change was significant. I had to learn new technology, but my surroundings also changed. After spending 15 years surrounded by people in the city, I was almost relieved to have space around me again. I worked at ski resorts and began photographing the surrounding nature in my free time.

I knew almost nothing about landscape photography. I simply began photographing landscapes in the same way I had photographed city life.

I observed. I learned to read the weather and nature until I experienced moments when I felt at one with nature.

I became interested in night photographs and the starry sky, learned the techniques needed for photographing them and applied them to the environment where I lived. Later, I also began photographing other natural phenomena.

My subjects had changed completely, but the foundation of my photography had remained the same. The way of observing that I had learned while photographing people carried over into my landscape photographs and later into the underwater world as well.

Suttesjohka, 2013.

Style Comes from the Photographer

Over time, I have understood that photographic style is not primarily defined by the subject, camera, editing, colour palette or filter used. Style comes from the photographer and their way of seeing.

Two photographers can be in exactly the same place. One may see something very interesting in the situation, while the other finds nothing worth photographing.

Technique and equipment can improve our ability to create an image. They help turn an observation into a photograph. However, everything begins with what we see when the situation is happening.

To me, a photographer is above all someone who sees. Photographers with a strong personal style trust their own vision.

I can admire the work of other photographers without wanting to photograph in the same way myself. I have worked alone and trusted my own vision for so long that my visual direction has become very personal. My style has gradually developed from the way I experience the world and react to it, regardless of what I photograph.

Autumn Hues, 2020.

Follow Genuine Interest, Not a Predetermined Look

Do not stress about style. Instead, pay attention to what you want to photograph.

Photograph things that genuinely interest you and allow you to enter a state of flow. When the work feels meaningful, you naturally spend more time observing, experimenting and returning to the same subject. Repetition develops both your skills and your understanding of the subject. At the same time, your own way of seeing gradually begins to appear in your photographs.

You do not need to be interested in every area of photography. For example, I am not interested in fashion photography. If photographing something constantly feels like a chore, with no real curiosity behind it, you will probably stop doing it sooner or later.

This does not mean that you should never leave your comfort zone. Experimenting can open up completely new possibilities. However, the discomfort connected with learning something new is different from forcing yourself to create photographs about a subject you do not care about.

The strongest photographs are often created where genuine curiosity, long-term work and a personal way of observing meet.

The most important thing is to learn to trust what you see.

Tokoinranta, 2004.

Do Not Let Social Media Define Your Photography

Social media can be a useful place to show your work, but it should not define what you photograph.

If you primarily think about what will succeed online, you can easily begin working more as a content creator than as a photographer. There is nothing wrong with content creation, but its purpose is different. Content is often guided by trends, algorithms and the need to capture attention immediately. Personal photographic work can develop much more slowly.

Not every photograph works on a small phone screen. Some photographs need a certain size, a physical print or an entire series around them. Their value cannot be measured by how quickly they receive reactions online or by how many reactions they receive.

Use social media to share your work, but do not let it become the reason the photographs are created.

Strong, 2020.

If you would like to explore how your way of seeing develops, you can also read How to Develop Your Photographic Eye.