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I started as a sole trader selling my photographic work in December last year. I attended Christmas fayres with framed prints and other prints, and found a local café which would stock a few copies of my book and a few of my framed prints on the walls to sell. I sold a few of both at first. It was a nice feeling but also reassuring that maybe I could begin to earn a living from this and produce another book or two.

It was frustrating that I couldn’t get a response from the National Trust to my master’s project nature photography book which was a study of the wildlife at a local NT site. I’d had staff at the site say the book would sell well there. I’d had visitors to the site say they would definitely buy my book if it was for sale. However, no response from NT.

The framed prints sold very slowly. Then they stopped selling, as lockdowns took hold around the world. The café closed. No one was ordering from my online sales. I linked to it on social media often. I posted my photographic work every single day, to limited response and still no sales. It was a daily effort and I was committed to it.

Months later I was doing the same things day after day after day with no sales and very little response. It chipped away at my confidence and self-belief until I decided I must be a bad photographer and should just give up. That’s kinda where I am now.

I’m disillusioned with sharing work and getting no support. It’s time to practice photography for myself. I’m very tempted to remove most social media.