6 months ago I started a new season as I entered self-employment, full time. I gave myself 3 months to create and announce a refresh, rebrand, and relaunch of my business. Those 3 months turned into 4, then 5. Now, 6 months later, it’s time to share what this new season looks like.

THE LAST SEASON

A few years ago now, in 2016, I launched the morethanjust.photos website and online store. The idea came after I uploaded a photo to the site Unsplash, which went on to reach millions. I uploaded many more photos, which now appear all over the internet. The numbers are pretty insane…

When the photos took off, a stream of people got in touch to ask for more or higher resolution images. After a number of sales over email, with the photo on a dropbox link, I knew I needed to build something to improve the experience for both parties.

Unsplash showed me just how far a single photo could reach, but also the impact that it can have on those that come into contact with it. The stories I’d heard from around the world of how my photos had spoken to people or greatly helped them in their work, was truly inspiring. It drove me to pursue something more meaningful with what I chose to create.

I wanted to build something that could make a difference beyond the platform itself. I wanted my work to be about more than just photos! So, in the end, that’s just what I called it! morethanjust.photos was born.

The idea was to license my photography (digitally and via prints), which I knew people had a desire for, and give 10% of every sale to charity. It also became a home for the stories and adventures behind the photos, where I shared the meaning within every image. Every photo had a story and every sale made a difference.

The idea worked. I licensed photos, sold prints and shared many stories from my adventures. It’s been really encouraging to have the support of so many and see this dream become a reality. Together, we’ve given generously to charity and I continue to learn the far-reaching impact that a photo can have. Thank you.

During this season I also got engaged and married, continued a nearly full-time second job, and in general pursued the best in every area.

So, what changed?

The change began at the end of 2018 when I found out I’d no longer be split between two jobs. Simply, come January 2019, I’d have a quite a bit more time on my hands!

Change is always hard, but it was clearly time to have a new focus and invest my energy into one area. It was daunting but incredibly exciting. I had ideas and dreams that had been curbed for some time, that I’d now have the space to work on. This season had been the best of my life so far, but I know the best is yet to come.

So, just as it was the close of one season, it was the beginning of a new one.

THE NEW SEASON

I sat down with cinematic music playing in the background (probably Tony Anderson) picked up a handful of empty notebooks, and started scribbling. If I was going to invest all of my time in my business, I needed to know what comes next.

I came to realise that photography wasn’t my only focus. Whatever I worked on, I wanted to make it meaningful. Photography has been the foundation of my work since leaving school, but it isn’t the only thing I’m passionate about. I’ve worked extensively in branding, design, videography, directing and marketing over the years and it’s the fullness of my experiences that make my work what it is.

Above all, I’m passionate about making a difference. So, the first thing I wanted to change was the name. Photography would remain a key expression of the brand and business, but there would be much more to the products and services available.

I began building on the old ideas and set out to create something brand new with my wife. Together, we wanted to build something special. We finished the year with a new direction and a hunger to get started.

When More Than Just Photos isn’t enough.

More Than Just Photos had originally been the caption for the name that I never came up with! I couldn’t figure a one-word title, so I went with 4! But to frame this new season, we needed a name to connect each of our passions into a cohesive brand, and help make sense of our new products and services.

I discovered the word as I read a passage in the Bible, Romans 8:37. It says, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” It’s a very famous verse and one I knew from memory. But on this occasion, I was reading from the Spirit-Filled Bible, which adds small references to explain the original meaning of the words. This is where I first saw the greek lexicon for the statement more than a conqueror, which is Hupernikao. It jumped off the page at me. It’s a strange looking word but with a very profound meaning.

I spent some time researching its different uses and how huper is the translation of ‘more than…’. It declares that we are more than we think we are, more than what we have (or haven’t) accomplished. It’s a mindset that reflects living life despite our circumstances rather than due to our circumstances. A life where we are destined to be and do more. It resonated with my spirit. I knew straight away that I’d found the one word that encapsulated my dream for the business.

Huper.

More Than; Huper. More Than Just Photos; Huper Photos. The word kept the original context of the ‘more than…’ dream but allowed the business to become relevant across new categories and products.

I shared the meaning with my wife and we knew it was the future. We spent countless hours working on ideas and developing the vision & values for the business that we’d now be working on together.

So my wife and I registered our new company; Huper LTD. We’re now co-directors of our first registered company and look forward to working together to build this dream.

What is Huper?

Huper is a new platform for products and services that are inspired by adventure and fuelled by photography & design.

Huper will service like-minded individuals, independent creatives, and businesses.

Huper will allow other adventurers to explore with us, discover new things, and plan their own trips with our adventures stories, travel guides, essentials and more.

Huper will allow creatives (by profession or passion!) to grow and develop their skills, connect with purpose-driven collaborators, and be part of something more than an industry cliché.

Huper will allow businesses to get the best travel and adventure photography with purpose and be buying into products more than traditional stock photography.

It’s an understatement to say we’re relieved to finally get the name and update out into the real world. It took a little longer than expected but we trust the timing is perfect and look forward to pressing on with everything we have planned.

SEASON 1 | VOLUME 1

The overall launch will be split into sections, which we’re calling Seasons. Each Season will be made up of a number of Volumes. These Volumes will include the launch of new products, general updates, and additions to the business.

A new Season will mark the end and beginning of some longer-term projects as we continue to grow and develop our offering within the Huper brand.

Spreading things out in this way will help us focus on what’s important in the moment. It also keeps things fresh, as we’ll be adding new and exciting content regularly through each Volume.

The first Volume of Season 1 is already here!

Click here to find out all about Season 1 | Volume 1.

By now, you’ve probably heard of Unsplash. If you search in google for ‘beautiful free photos' it’s the first thing you’ll see that’s not an ad. It’s not an ad because they’ve never spent a single dollar on advertisement. Yet, in the last four years they’ve racked up over 400,000 high resolution images, given by 65,000 generous photographers. Every photo is available to download and use for free, even commercially.

Following a conversation with a digital artist on Instagram, who regularly uses my photos, and some inspiration from my friend Samuel Zeller, I decided I would share why I’m one of those 65,000 photographers.

This is why I decided to give my work away for free.

Let’s start at the beginning.

In 2014 I uploaded my first photo to Unsplash. It was a simple shot of me, with my back to the camera, looking out over Lake Geneva. I clicked submit, sat back and waited to see what happened next. The following day it popped up on their home page. The day after that it had been downloaded thousands of times and was appearing all over the internet, from Buzz Feed articles to American mega churches. Today, it’s been viewed millions of times and used all around the world in some pretty inspirational ways.

I have since uploaded another 40 photos in the same style and recently hit a million downloads between them.

If I was looking for stats, I got them.

But, to be honest, it felt strange at first. I hadn’t realised quite how much it would take off. I saw my work everywhere, but rarely saw my name next to it. I’m the guy with the most famous back in the world that nobody knows.

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been asked, why? If I just sold the photos for £1 I would be a millionaire! I should have put them on a stock website! I should have put my watermark on them! I should never work for free!

But, then something special started to happen…

Messages of thanks started pouring in. I was blown away by the gratitude of the people that were using the photos. From pretty much every digital artist on Instagram, to countless churches around the world. All the way to the 76 year old grandmother who shared with me that she didn’t have any money to pay for expensive stock images, but was able to complete her self published book with one of my photos on the cover. She ended her message with, “You are so special and it gives this old Grandmother a warm spot in my heart to see young people accomplishing and doing things that honour God in these troubled times.”

Without realising it, I was making real and meaningful connections all over the world. I was helping change the way people interacted with photography and provided resources to those that didn’t have access to any before.

But, then it went further...

I started to receive substantial monetary gifts from people showing their appreciation for letting them use my work. They didn’t need to do that. Just like I didn’t need to give my photos away for free. But we did. I started to receive bookings and made partnerships that would help support new travel and adventures. I licensed other photos from my portfolio that weren’t on Unsplash. I featured on book covers, magazine covers and even billboards, all around the world.

No, it’s not full time. No, I’m still not a millionaire! And no, exposure doesn’t directly pay the bills. But I believe that these relationships based on generosity and gratitude will go a lot further and last a lot longer than any partnerships based on money will take me.

I have become part of something bigger. In such a crowded and difficult industry to break out in I have found a special community of people. Not just a few, but a community of millions that have a need that I can meet. People that use, love and appreciate what I’m doing. Many that use it for free but also many that will support my efforts in doing something different.

I’m honoured to have been part of such a game changing platform and I’m excited to see what the next chapter is. Of course, I hope in time that more people will recognise me for my work. That they’ll know the face behind that famous back. But, however the story goes, I will continue to find ways to make a lasting and significant difference with my photos. I will continue to impact the industry in ways that no other platform has made possible, even if it means missing out my name in the credits.

So for you, the digital artists, authors, bloggers or even Fortune 500 companies, here are my photos. Enjoy them!

You can find me on instagram @explorewithjoshua. Come and say hi in the comments below. I’d love to know your thoughts.

Why I let people use my photos, even for free. was originally published in Unsplash Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As the photo started to appear I breathed in the unique smell that only a fresh print could give you. Like when you walk into a bakery first thing in the morning. Freshly baked photos. Maybe that was my imagination, but I realised that was what it’s all about. The excitement, intrigue, and the unknown that comes with ordering prints. The feeling of being a professional artist even if the only person to see your painting, was you! It’s beautiful.

The photo lay flat on the table. It wasn’t great, it was awesome. It took me back to the moment the photo had been taken. The sounds and smells of the place. The feeling of being on an adventure and the joy of capturing it to look back on and remember forever.

I picked up the photo and moved it towards the light. I’d chosen to print with a new metallic finish so as the light bounced off the paper it shone as if it was made of gold. It was genuinely stunning.

I’ve read a lot of posts and articles on why print is dead and have been asked a number of times why I offer prints or if people really order them still. Before today, I think I agreed with those articles and questions. But today, I ordered a print.

There’s just no screen that gives you the feeling that rolling out a new photo gives you. Let’s be honest, no iPhone background or instagram post has ever done justice to a great photo. The ease of storing, sharing and looking at photos on digital displays has taken away the experience that photos were made to give. It sounds dramatic. But, as a photographer I want you to experience my work and be blown away by it. After staring at this metallic print for just a few seconds I realised that this was how I do that. This was the right way to experience photography.

Print is not dead. In my opinion it’s one of the few things that truly bring a photo to life.

All of my photography is available to download and use digitally at More Than Just Photos. Every photo will now also be available to print worldwide. Just scroll down on any product and click the gold button.

If you’d like to have the same experience with the new metallic finish that I just wrote about, then check out our Specials page where I’ll be adding limited edition premium prints every month.

Thank you for reading. If you agree, disagree or have any questions, let me know in the comments!

Everyone wants to find the path to success, right? To take out the things that slow them down and add the things that will help them get to their dream destination. Here is why, despite popular belief, I think you should leave making mistakes in your list of things to keep.

I would say that my biggest mistake in life has actually been being scared of making mistakes.

If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything — John Wooden

In my career as a professional photographer, I have learnt that the key to being successful is not in taking mistakes out of the equation. It is just being sure that you are only making new ones.

If we try and build a life or business mistake-free then who would relate to it in this imperfect world? And if no one relates, who cares?

I have to admit, I make a lot of mistakes. Every time I work on a new project or go on another trip for my blog, I do things wrong and wish I had done something different. I wish I woke up that little bit earlier and caught the sunrise. I wish I made the effort to climb to the other side of that mountain. I wish I took the time to re-position the shot to get a more perfect photo.

Now, if I see these things as mistakes rather than lessons I will just cook up frustration and disappointment. And in the beginning that is what I would always end up doing. I would never feel satisfied with my work and was finding it hard to be happy with the things I was creating. But recently I decided to replace the word mistake with lesson. Now I don’t make mistakes, I learn lessons. I don’t try and stop making mistakes I just work hard not to have the same problems that I faced before.

When something doesn’t go to plan or you mess something up just make sure you learn from it and only make that same mistake once. Don’t be scared of mistakes, use them.

Mistakes are the secret to success.