Jonathan on the Jonathan on the changing photography industry: “I find that if I can keep curious about something, about a topic, about an interest, that many times people are interested in that same thing.”
— Jonathan Kingston, professional photographer
In part three of our interview series, Jonathan Kingston reflects on how the photography industry has evolved. He shares how a mindset of curiosity has helped him stay creative and relevant in a shifting landscape.
Jonathan Kingston serves as a contributing photographer for National Geographic and helped establish the Submerged Archaeological Conservancy International. His work is rooted in the fields of maritime archaeology and natural history, with a strong focus on documenting human stories. By integrating scientific research and visual storytelling, Kingston promotes global awareness and cultural understanding. Be sure to catch this thoughtful and engaging conversation.
Text below transcribed from a portion of an interview conducted by Betty of Cradoc fotoSoftware in February 2025. To view this and other interviews, please go to our Cradoc fotoSoftware YouTube Channel.
Why Curiosity and Social Media Are Key in Today’s Photography Career
The photography industry is a tough industry. That’s the Cliff’s notes. Anyone entering it needs to know that. I can only speak for myself, but staying curious is the short answer. I find that if I can keep curious about something, about a topic, about an interest, that many times people are interested in that same thing.
And, sometimes that curiosity is technical. Maybe there’s a cool new technique that’s come out, and I’m going to practice that technique. Sometimes it’s a story idea, and I get really curious about that. And I research, and I go down the wormhole, and I pitch the idea.
Sometimes it’s just how can I communicate things I’ve done in the past better. How can I be curious about that and share that curiosity with a greater audience? But that’s the long and the short of it for me is just staying curious and constantly exploring new things.
How has social media impacted your career? It’s changed the world quite dramatically. From a career point of view, how has it impacted you?
I’m going to back up and zoom out a little bit on that question. So I think it was February 2002 that I built my first website to advertise myself. It’s kind of early days, and I thought this is great, I’m out on the web, I’m going to get discovered. My work’s up there, this is wonderful. I think even early on, there was a brief window, like in 2005, 2006, If you googled “underwater photographer”, I would come up above David Doubilet, which was really very cool, you know? I’ll probably never be as good as him, but that was a very cool thing to see in Google search results. The website never did, I mean, it acted as a business card for me, it had credibility, but it never did what I thought it was going to do. When fast forwarding to social media, specifically to Instagram, because that’s really the main one that I’m on, that did what I thought the website was going to do. That gave me the reach. That gave me the discovery. That got me in front of editors that I probably wouldn’t get in front of before that. That got me in front of art buyers that probably wouldn’t have seen my work any other way. And so it really had that sticky factor. It really has made a difference in my career.
And I won’t lie. It’s a pain in the butt, and it’s also one of those emotional rollercoasters. It’s well documented that they use game theory to influence how your posts are received, and some do great and some don’t. And there’s no rhyme or reason to it. But I keep doing it because it’s that one thing that is sticky, and it’s that one thing that is effective at getting my work out there and getting it seen by the people that might hire me or might purchase my work.
Are there any particular strategies with social media, particularly Instagram, that you use that you find are more helpful in getting greater visibility for the purchasers?
I’m certainly not an expert at it. I think that the thing that I struggle with most is consistency on it. I’ll go through sort of these high and low phases where I’m posting very regularly, then I don’t post for a long time, and then I start posting regularly again. And I think that what I’ve seen is when I’m a little more consistent with it, that seems to be when a momentum starts happening.
But it seems like just the algorithms are changing all the time, how their things are getting discovered. I think as recently as maybe a few months ago, they really stopped looking at hashtags as ways to discover, and now they’re using other tools: AI image discovery, things like that. So it’s a real moving target, I think by intent.
Changing Photography Industry
Read this insightful blog by a photographer that goes deep into how the industry has changed.
About Jonathan Kingston
As a National Geographic contributor and co-founder of Submerged Archaeological Conservancy International, Jonathan Kingston uses his camera to uncover stories hidden in the sea and on land. His images reflect a deep curiosity for maritime archaeology, the natural world, and human life, bringing science and narrative together to inspire global connection.
Website: Jonathan Kingston
Instagram: @jonathankingston
LinkedIn: Jonathan Kingston
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