05/02/2026
Company Update: Get a drink, my mind went full ham. 1086 words to go.
I've been very quiet lately and it came upon me suddenly. I’ve had a realization, mixed with reality and roadblocks. The original mission of my adventure is no longer achievable in my current state of affairs. I’m now at a crossroad and it may be a long while before I ever circle back to this fork in the road. As most of you know, I am a husband and a father of two. This adventure was to elevate my passion of photography into a side hustle and eventually a full blown gig that provided for my family. It was something I had put forth a ton of time and effort, to get off the ground and maintain. I spent long days on captures and longer nights on editing and posting. I would take my time to react and comment back to everyone that took their time to admire my work. I opened a studio and captured portraits as well as put out physical work to generate additional income to support the cost of running the business. I attended a few festivals to reach out to new audiences and to promote my work. But it has not paid off and honestly it has siphoned more funds than it generated.
Despite an overwhelmingly positive online presence, I have discovered the hard way that my passion is only screen deep to the masses. I received numerous accolades and compliments to my posts and I did manage to sell a few pictures and several coasters over the last couple years. But in the end, I did not make enough profit to make this a viable solution. My dedicated studio shuttered as the public preferred ultra cheap, overnight photographers and a desire for instagram inspired portraits. The indoor gallery also saw abysmal attendance and very low sales of my prints. The rent, insurance and cost of all the new equipment far exceeded what was generated from this adventure. In the end, people told me what I wanted to hear. But the support to grow bigger was never there.
My festival run was a mixed bag of success. My work schedule conflicted with many of the festival dates and being the only one running all sides of the business, I couldn’t attend very many of them. But the ones I did attend, I managed to cover my tent fee and had enough for a 12 pack. I met some amazing people with an undeniable desire to capture amazing work. I had a blast talking about my gear and thought process on my captures. It was a wholehearted experience to see my work inspire so many people to pick up a camera and capture the world around them. I also met some amazing artists along the way and admired their jaw dropping work. Again though, it did not generate enough income to be a viable option and ultimately it did not generate enough interest in my work.
Today I’m down to a small wall, where I still showcase my work. It’s nestled in the Y-Bridge Cultural Arts Center. The first Friday of every month, the public can tour the building and view/purchase my work as well as other artists' work. It is a shell of the dream I had but it’s still something. I’ve put my passion for photography on the back burner as I have been forced to dedicate my time towards my full time job. Working up to 84 hours a week hasn’t left me with a ton of time to capture anything. My kids are also at the age where they are into extracurricular activities and I devote my time to support both of them. I need a guaranteed income for my family and photography has not been the solution.
About 6 months ago, I hit a creative block and it has been crippling. This happened once I realized that the dream was on life support. I’ve been struggling to find inspiration to capture new material and sometimes it has me questioning the future. I don’t like to capture the same thing over and over but I also feel like everything else has been captured by other photographers. I also realized that the things I wanted to capture are not the same things that most people care to see. Then I'm trapped into the only way to earn any passive income. Every reaction, comment and share generates a tiny income for the business. I’m talking about a couple dollars per post, nothing too serious but could be with enough followers. Now I feel that I'm bound to catering to the algorithms to attempt to revive the dying dream. I’m at a catch 22 and either way I’m not going to win. So I have struggled to find reasons to capture anything new and then battled myself to find the creative inspiration to just do it.
I know this all reads very negative and I really couldn’t find any other way to sugar coat this. I’ve always been open about my adventure and I’m also a straight shooter on my highs and lows. This post just happens to be a low for me. The business is not dead but I really need to get it together soon. I’ve got an upcoming trip and I’m going to push myself to bust out the camera. I hope this will rejuvenate my mind and help me find that passion again.
I’m not a fan of ending my posts on a low note so here is the diamond in all this rough. A positive aspect is that I’m still working in the commercial sectors and I have found some success. My work has been showcased by a few businesses and I still work with Visit Zanesville when they need me. This has been a steady aspect of the business and since they know what they want, I’m left with the creative aspect of capturing their ideas. It has been fun and has kept my mind in the photographical game. I also picked up a new lightning trigger as well as a new macro lens. I hope to experiment with both of these in the near future.
So comes to an end, another excessively long company update. No pity for me please, I’ll figure it out. All I ask is that you don’t abandon me while I find me again. May the next update be a positive one and may this year become a rebirth of Lock 10 Photography. Thank you everyone for the support.
Yours truly,
Brian Edgell
