Authentic Style Validated: 10 Million Views and My Approach to Hong Kong Family Life
Attention to light, timing and energy is exactly what makes my candid family sessions so popular on the other side of the world in Hong Kong.
Recently, my Flickr photostream hit 10,000,000 views. This huge number reflects the reach and quality of my work, and it's the global experience I bring to every Hong Kong family photoshoot. The platform launched around the same time I started sharing my work, and while it’s not particularly useful for business or networking, it’s been incredible for visibility and engagement. And I get real time feedback on my work, sometimes I am in love with a photo that nobody else is. And sometimes the exact opposite.
How Flickr Explore Boosts Visibility
Most of the biggest view counts on Flickr go to landscapes or portraits of women. My photos get attention thanks to Flickr Explore, a mysterious algorithm that selects a few hundred standout photos out of millions uploaded every day.
One recent highlight: a photo of a family running down the dunes at Sandbanks Provincial Park, near my hometown of Picton, Ontario, was chosen for Explore. It received 10,000 views within a few hours, plus the usual stream of congratulatory comments from other photographers hoping to get featured.
Actually now closer to 11M.
Why This Matters
At the end of the day, popularity on social platforms can feel meaningless. I have 125,000 Facebook followers, but that doesn’t automatically make a photo successful. Some images I love fall flat, while others I think are “okay” take off. These platforms are useful for feedback. Photographers can be too close to their own work to know how the public will respond. Flickr gives me a second opinion, showing me what resonates and what doesn’t.
Remember that being famous on social media is like being rich at Monopoly.
