Honest creativity
in a dishonest world.
The Terrible Photographer is a podcast, newsletter, and book about the messy middle of creative work — told like a personal journal, not a highlight reel.
Field Notes: A Pint for Your Week
Not tips. Not hacks. Just one short meditation to keep you going.
Raw, funny, sometimes dark, always human.
Every week I send a letter to the terrible ones — photographers, designers, therapists, CEOs, anyone who’s trying to make something honest in a world that rewards performance over presence.
It’s not a recap of the podcast. It’s something smaller. A reflection. A burning question. A reminder you’re not alone in this.
Read it in 3 minutes. Carry it all week.
A Recently Featured Apple Podcast
The Terrible Photographer Podcast – Stories, rants, and revolts for working creatives.
.Each episode is part essay, part confession, about what it means to keep creating when the algorithm is louder than your instincts. It’s not about gear. It’s about guts. New episodes every Tuesday.
Lessons From a Terrible Photographer
A field guide for the creatively over-it.
This isn't another photography book. It's a creative survival guide for the rest of us.
Lessons From a Terrible Photographer is part memoir, part manifesto, part therapy session for anyone who's ever wondered if they're actually cut out for this creative life. It's not about gear, presets, or building your personal brand. It's about staying human in an industry obsessed with perfection.
Through brutal honesty, dark humor, and hard-won wisdom, this book tackles the stuff other photography guides won't touch:
Why chasing perfection is creative suicide
How to find your voice when everyone sounds the same
The real reason most photographers burn out (hint: it's not the work)
Why being "terrible" is actually your superpower
How to build a career that feeds your soul instead of crushing it
If you’ve ever felt like you’re falling behind, making the wrong kind of work, or wondering if you’re even cut out for this — this book is for you.
Because the real lesson? You’re allowed to be terrible.
That’s how you get good.
WHY TERRIBLE IS THE POINT
The antidote to photography's creative crisis
Photography has an unspoken problem: the slow death of creative voice. Most photographers are caught between chasing trends, undercharging for work, and building Instagram feeds that look like everyone else's.
Terrible Photographer exists for creatives ready to reject that game. We stand for honest work over hype, voice over imitation, and the radical idea that your photography should sound like you.
We're not here to teach you presets or promise viral success. We're here to help you make work that matters, to you first, then to the world.
The call is simple: Stop performing. Start creating.
Terrible Photographer
is on Instagram!
Meet the Author
Patrick Fore is a commercial and portrait photographer with a background in graphic design and art direction. Known for his bold use of color and storytelling through light, Patrick shares the lessons he learned the hard way so you don't have to. Patrick lives with his family in San Diego.