Learning to work with your toughest critic

There’s one person we’re forced to work with every time we create an image. Someone who will second-guess every shot we take, question every idea, and doubt every decision.

Ourselves.

We can often be the harshest critics of our own work. But are these thoughts a negative influence on what we create? Are they simply a distraction we’re forced to overcome? Or do our doubts push us to create something better? Do they work for us or against us?

In the above video, we take that questioning voice that we all know so well and make it inescapable for three photographers. The inner critic prompts a different response from each of them, proving that the role this voice plays is not as cut and dried as it might seem.

INNER CRITIC is another experiment from THE LAB, a series designed to shift creative thinking behind the lens. Special thanks to the photographers. You can explore some of the images that they captured here.