| Joined: | Thu Apr 19th, 2012 |
| Location: | United Kingdom |
| Posts: | 4435 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
Yes, it's normal.
I sold almost all my gear, because I had too. My partner came home one night and, completely without warning, announced our relationship was over and would I leave in the morning.
This meant I was suddenly homeless.
Unfortunately, his family also owned my business premises. I was allowed to continue working out of there for 3 weeks. Which was until the end of commitments I had to persons or businesses they directly dealt with. I then lived and worked in a 20 year old Ford Escort van. But it was impossible.
Although a very good friend let me stay in the spare bedroom, I had no income. After just two months all my savings were gone. I contemplated suicide, very seriously. Then I got a job.
After a couple of months I looked for a place to rent. In order to pay the deposit and put the most basic furnishings in, I sold all my gear. It was all I had worth money.
I regretted it, from the moment I did it.
18 months on I started a photo blog, using my old D200 and then a Canon I picked up cheaply. My aim was to take at least one half decent photo a day, every day. I didn't care how many followers I had. It was for me. It opened my eyes and re-engaged my love of photography.
Photography for me will never be the same again.
It will never again be my business.
But it can still be my passion.
But I needed those 18 months away from it. I needed to walk away from a lot of hurt and a lot of disappointment, and photography was a part of that.
You have clearly been through some emotionally wretched times, Jan.
I sincerely hope you have turned a corner and are moving forward into better ones.
I consider myself very lucky that I was able to turn my hobby into a business opportunity.
But one thing is for sure...you may gain a living, but you lose a leisure activity.
For nearly 20 years I have found it extremely difficult to view my cameras as anything more than my work tools. I stopped taking photos for fun.
I turned to IR photography as a'point of difference' from my day to day stuff.
But Its only now, as work is 'dropping off', that I am gaining back the enthusiasm for leisure photography.
In short, it's very difficult to combine work and play.
____________________
Eric