You Don’t Need to Be Original
There’s a quiet pressure that haunts a lot of artists:
Be original. Be first. Say something no one’s said before.
And yet—most of what moves us isn’t original.
It’s honest.
It’s well-observed.
It’s resonant in ways that can’t be faked.
Your work doesn’t need to be the first of its kind.
It needs to be yours.
Influence Is Not Imitation
Every artist is a patchwork of what they’ve seen, felt, studied, admired, and endured.
You are not starting from nothing—you’re standing in a long line of voices.
And that’s not a weakness. That’s the foundation.
Your favorite photographers, writers, and musicians?
They all borrowed. Echoed. Translated.
They found their voice inside the process, not apart from it.
Don’t fear your influences—get to know them.
You’ll find yourself in the spaces between.
Say It How You See It
You may not be the first to photograph a street corner.
But no one else stood exactly where you stood.
No one else noticed the same movement, the same silence, the same light.
That difference—the way you frame, pause, choose, react—
that’s your originality.
It doesn’t have to be loud to be distinct.
It just has to be true.
Let the Work Be Familiar—and Still Yours
There’s nothing wrong with making something that feels familiar.
Love letters have been written for centuries.
Portraits drawn, songs sung, skies photographed.
It still matters. It still means something.
Originality doesn’t mean inventing a new language.
It means speaking clearly in the one that’s yours.
To Carry With You
Think of a piece of work—your own or someone else’s—that moved you deeply, even if it wasn’t “new.”
Now ask:
What made it feel true or powerful, even if the subject was familiar?
What influences have shaped your work so far?
How can you make peace with being part of a lineage—not apart from it?
You don’t have to be first.
You just have to be real.
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— Endeoh
Collaborate. Elevate. Inspire.