A Photographer in real Life
By Gloria Mwivanda
After every phone call with my mother, right before she hangs up, she asks, “Did you find a job yet? Not that gallivanting about and taking photos thing you’ve been doing.” I laugh and say, “Not yet.”
I’ve told her that I do photography and visual art, but in her eyes, that’s not a real job. So, not yet, I haven’t found one. She thinks taking photos is lovely—after all, she was the one who took me to buy my first camera and saw the glow in my eyes (more like tears) as I held it. But to her, photography is a hobby, not a career. Telling my mother that I work as a photographer full-time is like telling her I’m a juggler in a circus—completely absurd. And with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in progress, surely, this must just be a phase before I settle into a “real job” and start my “real life.”
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When I set out to be a working artist, I had no illusions that it would be all sunshine and rainbows, but I definitely underestimated the lows this journey would take me through. One year and seven months in, I have survived thus far—but my mother is clearly worried about my financial security and mental well-being. Honestly, I worry too. But not as much as she does.
There’s no “real life” waiting to happen. Life is happening ‘right now’.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned so far is that closed mouths don’t get fed. When I started, I was timid and believed (like many artists do) that the work will speak for itself. And while that’s true, you still have to advocate for yourself. Sign up for contests and grants. Post your work on social media. Talk about it. Love it—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Yes, sometimes it’ll feel cringe, sometimes it’ll be disappointing. But that’s part of the process. The only way to endure it is to allow it, expect it even, and keep an open mind. The path will form as you walk it—stop looking for a map to lead you there.
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Another important lesson? Keep doing the work. Take photos every day. You may not see it at first, but with practice, you will get better. It’s like building muscle—you keep lifting, keep training, on good days and bad days. Then one day, you look in the mirror, and the person staring back is not just the vision you had when you started—it’s better than you imagined. Stay disciplined. Keep learning. Stay open to possibilities. Things will work out.
And finally, the lesson I am still learning: there’s no “real life” waiting to happen. Life is happening right now. Whatever you are doing at this moment, that is your real life. It can get better or worse depending on your choices, but you have to live, work, and create as if this is it—because it is.
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I am a photographer in real life. Not in my imagination, not just on social media—but here, now, every day. And it makes me smile that my mother is slowly starting to see that too. The clearer that vision is to me, the clearer it becomes to her—and maybe, to the world as well.
