When did “marketing yourself” become such a normal thing? In a world of putting your best foot forward, being seen in the best light and making the best impression possible, do you ever wonder what is real? It seems that so much is like that these days, especially in the virtual world.

Online dating, online networking- the online world of social media can make your personality and goals a relative thing. Like somehow who you are and what you want is no longer a quality of your essence but more a factor of what you can communicate on a page, much like this one, using only words and pictures.

But is it smart to create an avatar of yourself, a sort of sub reality that embodies winning concepts with no real substance to back it up? In both love and business it might be a more relaxed and dare I say authentic approach to simply introduce yourself to the world instead of trying to compete.

I am not a robot. I am not a concept. I am not words on a page.

That’s one of the reasons I love taking photos because it helps to bridge this gap. There seems to me to be a chasm between the idea of a person and the real person. With so many competing realities: the person you want to be, the person you think you are, the person other people want you to be, the person you think they think you are, it can all be so dizzying.

I believe a really good photo changes everything in this context. It opens up doors to those who have eyes to see what really matters. It’s not about being attractive or winning people over with your looks. A truly good photo captures the you that your best friends know and gives a potential partner or employer the ability to understand, beyond words, what makes you like no one else in the world.