Discussions of creative photography often end with the advice that to be successful one needs to find his/her unique "vision." We all have one, born of our own set of experiences and vantage point to view those experiences. The trick is converting that uniqueness into visual language that is true to the way we see the world. The good news is it is easy to do, if you have the courage to trust yourself.
I have a dear friend whose daughter is a successful fashion/advertising photographer. She began shooting international ad campaigns for companies like Converse, Fiat and Nike when she was just fifteen years old. Her dreamy color infused photographs of young teenagers just wanting to have fun, expressed the joy, sorrow and emotional turbulence we all experience in these formative years. Companies and editorial clients picked up on her work because it was an honest and genuine expression of her life experience. She is not trying to create work to fit a particular market, she is creating her own market by exploiting her own uniqueness. After high school she declined to go to photo school because she didn't want to change the way she saw her work. She had the courage to trust herself. It's rare for someone of that age to have such confidence in their "vision." You can see her work here... http://oliviabee.com
The recent images on her blog of Katy Perry are stunning!