There are shoots where everything clicks.

The light is magic. The client is chill. The work feels effortless.

This episode isn’t about those.

Instead, we’re going into the plumbing.

Literally.

From overflowing toilets in luxury villas to Fortune 500 invoice purgatory, from last-minute gear fails to moments that remind you why you ever picked up a camera in the first place — this one’s for every photographer (and creative) who’s quietly asked themselves:

Turns out? It is.

But maybe that’s not a bad thing.

Because hidden under the chaos, the duct tape, and the missed payments…

there’s still something worth fighting for. And sometimes, the most honest thing you can say is:

And maybe that’s the most romantic thing you’ll ever say about your career.

🧰 Mentioned in this episode:

• Client disasters (featuring two Kyles, mushroom water, and sewage)
• Scope creep and hostage negotiation skills
• Invoice limbo with billion-dollar brands
• A failed choir shoot and a thousand-dollar mistake
• The shoot that broke your heart in the best way possible
• Why the photos are just the receipt

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And honestly, it just feels good to know someone’s listening.

Credits

Music in this episode is licensed through Epidemic Sound and Artlist.io.
Episode Photo by Gryffyn

What happens when the thing you made in the dark suddenly ends up in the spotlight? This week, Patrick gets personal about the strange pressure of being “featured,” and why attention might be the most creatively dangerous drug of all.

From a viral photo in the dunes to the slow collapse of chasing relevance, this episode dives into the algorithm’s indifference to honesty, the myth of momentum, and what Johnny Cash’s American Recordings can still teach us about making art that matters.

This is for the ones who still believe in disappearing. In pausing. In letting the light hit you… without immediately bottling it.

Includes a clip from “The Beast in Me” by Johnny Cash (used with reverence, not profit).

All other music licensed via Artist.io.

Episode photograph by Casey Horner — Instagram: @mischievous_penguins.

"I thought the work would save me. I was grossly mistaken."

What happens when a stranger on Clubhouse calls you a technician instead of an artist? Patrick breaks down the brutal midnight conversation that cracked open everything he thought he knew about his photography career. From the golden handcuffs of corporate work to the humbling reality of freelancing for $650, this episode is about dismantling the fantasy of what creative success looks like.

No metaphors. No inspiration porn. Just the uncomfortable truth about technical skill versus authentic voice, and why sometimes the thing you think defines you is actually limiting you.

Part one of a two-part series on creative deconstruction and what comes after.

In this episode:

• A photo campaign that felt more like forgery
• The invisible shift from artist to technician
• Why being trusted isn’t the same as being seen
• The quiet way burnout creeps in
• What I learned after walking away

Light Leak: A Creative Check-In

Are you being hired for your vision, or just your ability to mimic someone else’s?

Grab The Darkroom – a free guide to creative clarity and finding your artistic voice

terriblephotographer.com/darkroom-download

Music licensed via Artlist.io

Audio excerpt from Conan O’Brien’s farewell message on The Tonight Show (2010). Used under fair use for commentary and inspiration. All rights belong to NBC/Universal.

Subscribe, support, or scream into the void at: terriblephotographer.com

Email me: patrick@terriblephotographer.com – I’m always interested to hear your thoughts, ideas, and read hate mail. I respond to every message.

Follow: @patrickfore & @terriblephotographer

Everyone loves a comeback story. But what about the part where you’re just… sitting in a garage at 2 a.m., surrounded by half-charged batteries, broken gear, and a growing sense that something inside you might be cracking?

This episode isn’t about triumph. It’s about that strange, quiet middle, the one nobody posts about, where you’re not broken, not healed… just angry. Angry at the industry. Angry at yourself. Angry at the space between who you are and who you thought you’d be by now.

But that anger? Maybe it’s not a problem to solve. Maybe it’s fuel.

Topics Include:

• The weird middle space between burnout and breakthrough
• How anger can be creative fuel—if you let it
• Why “healing” and “finding joy” aren’t the point
• The choice to keep working, even when the work feels pointless
• Depression, resistance, and what it means to show up anyway

Opening Song:

“Demons” by The National
Used under license. All rights to 4AD Records and the artists.

Support the band at: americanmary.com

All other music provided by:

🎧 Artlist.io

Mentioned in the Episode:

• A broken laptop stand
• The hum of depression
• That 2 a.m. garage air
• The space where the butterfly might land

Subscribe to the Newsletter + Get the Free Download:

Want more of this kind of honest, no-BS creative conversation?

Subscribe to The Terrible Newsletter and get The Darkroom — a free digital download about making real work in dark seasons.

terriblephotographer.com/thedarkroom

What happens when you still love photography but start to wonder if there’s any place left for you in the industry?

In this raw, vulnerable episode, Patrick Fore gets brutally honest about what it means to be a working photographer in 2025. From a moment of personal crisis in a cluttered garage to the soul-draining grind of cold outreach and algorithm-chasing, this episode pulls back the curtain on the emotional and existential cost of staying in the game.

You’ll hear:

• Why radical honesty might be the only antidote to creative burnout
• The tension between art and commerce, and why it matters more than ever
• A reflection on the dark side of the photography education economy
• A personal story about hitting the wall, and choosing not to walk away
• A deeper dive into the concept of Flow vs. Resistance, and how to find your way back to meaning in the chaos

Whether you’re a full-time freelancer, a weekend warrior, or someone questioning the whole damn thing, this episode isn’t about pretending. It’s about naming the mess, wrestling with it, and finding a way to keep going.

📬 Subscribe to Field Notes, the weekly companion to the podcast:

https://www.terriblephotographer.com

💬 Let’s connect:

Instagram @TerriblePhotographer

Newsletter: Field Notes (via Substack)

Book: Lessons From a Terrible Photographer (coming soon)
Email me - patrick@terriblephotographer.com

Credits:

This episode contains a referenced clip from “How to enter ‘flow state’ on command” by Steven Kotler for Big Think (Watch here) and a short excerpt (under 30 seconds) from Pixar’s Soul, used to illustrate the concept of creative flow.

Music provided by and licensed through Artlist.io.

Episode Title:

Why Shapes How

On Intention, Execution, and the Lie of Objectivity

Description:

You can nail the lighting. Get the shot. Hit all the settings.

But if you don’t know why you’re making the image, it’s just visual noise.

In this episode of The Terrible Photographer Podcast, we dig into the lie at the heart of modern photography — that technical mastery is the pinnacle of the craft. It’s not. Intent is. And most people are scared of it.

We talk motorcycle maintenance, emotionally hollow images, and what happens when a “family photo session” turns into something that actually means something.

Whether you shoot portraits, weddings, branding, or weird experimental self-portraits at 2am with a desk lamp, this episode is a reminder: your camera doesn’t make meaning. You do.

Inside this episode:

• Why so many photographers stop learning once they hit “base camp”
• The family shoot example that reveals what intentional work really looks like
• The myth of photographic objectivity — and why your perspective always leaks in
• Why TikTok’s rough, real content hits harder than a polished campaign
• What separates technically perfect images from the ones that actually stick

Want to go deeper?

Sign up for Field Notes — a free weekly email for photographers who want something more honest than gear reviews and Instagram hacks.

When you sign up, you’ll get the first chapter of my book Lessons From a Terrible Photographer — in PDF andaudio, delivered straight to your inbox.

👉 Get it at www.terriblephotographer.com

Credits:

• Music licensed and used by permission through Artlist.io
• Episode Art Photography by Earl Wilcox – shot in Santa Barbara.

This episode wasn’t planned.

But with federal troops deployed in Los Angeles, students arrested, immigrants targeted, and journalists silenced — it felt dishonest to pretend everything was normal.

In this special essay-style episode, I explore the role of photography in moments of protest and power:

• Why the frame is never neutral
• How truth is shaped, and sometimes distorted, by the camera
• The difference between documenting and performing
• What it means to be a witness, not a tourist

I also share a powerful on-the-ground reflection from LA-based photographer @chelsealaurenla, whose words remind us that not everything makes the news, but it still matters.

If you’ve ever questioned whether photography can change anything… this one’s for you.

Mentions & Resources:

• Follow Chelsea Lauren: instagram.com/chelsealaurenla
• Music licensed by Artlist.io

Stay Connected:

Subscribe to Field Notes

The podcast is the campfire, Field Notes is what you take home. Field Notes is the weekly email companion to this podcast, one part creative letter, one part behind-the-scenes mess, all bullshit-free.

→ Sign up here

Learn more about the project at:

terriblephotographer.com

If this episode meant something to you, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

It helps more than you know.

At some point, every artist has to choose:

Keep making work that gets likes.

Or make work that actually says something.

This is an episode about the quiet uprising.

The moment you stop painting for the academy.

The moment you realize you’re not burned out from doing too much, you’re burned out from doing too much that means nothing.

We start with a true (and strange) story from 1863, when fourteen painters staged a creative rebellion and changed the art world forever.

And then we bring it back to you. To now.

To that feeling you get when you scroll your own grid and wonder if any of it matters.

If any of it’s even yours.

This is The Revolt.

Not with swords. With silence.

With risk.

With art that doesn’t beg for applause.

Subscribe to Field Notes

The podcast is the campfire, Field Notes is what you take home. Field Notes is the weekly email companion to this podcast, one part creative letter, one part behind-the-scenes mess, all bullshit-free.

→ Sign up here

📬 Join the conversation on Substack

We’re building a community of artists who are tired of the hustle and hungry for something real.

→ terriblephotographer.substack.com

🎧 Music licensed via Art List

Header photo stolen lovingly from Wikipedia. Don’t tell the Louvre.

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