201 ☼ Don’t wait for permission. Create your own industry.
GIVEAWAY: $250 Gift Card for the Moment Store
Dear friends,
This week is a creative pep talk for anyone tired of waiting to be chosen. It’s about building your own momentum and why the most meaningful work often starts before anyone says yes.
Inside this issue:
Why waiting for permission can quietly stall your creative growth
How Juergen Teller, Joshua Kissi, and Spike Jonze made their own lanes, and how you can too
To break up the text, some of my favorite recent street shots from this summer in the center of Amsterdam
A $250 Moment giveaway to support your next bold step
Before we dive in: If you're a shooter or editor in or around Amsterdam and interested in working on short-form videos with me, drop me a line here.
Build What You Want to Be Part Of
There’s this trap a lot of us fall into, especially early on. We wait. For someone to notice us. To give us a shot. To say, “Yes, you’re ready.”
But most of the creative breakthroughs I admire, and many of the ones I’ve experienced, happened only after someone said: Let’s just make it anyway.
My community portrait project, The Best Medicine, was exactly that.
No one asked us to make it. There was no commission. No gatekeeper nod. Just a group of photographers, videographers, assistants, and comedians who came together to create something meaningful. And we did!
We teamed up with a studio, a printer, a venue, a designer, and more, and turned it into a zine, a live event, a few short films, and a moment people still talk about.
Not because we were chosen. Because we chose ourselves.
(Check out the BTS video below for more on how this multi-media project came to life.)
Same goes for Londry, a short film I recently acted in, which was written and directed by Joseph Frank. He didn’t wait for a greenlight. He gathered a team, made the film, and we screened it at last week’s Process Photo Walk. That room full of people watching and reacting? That’s what happens when you don’t wait.
Some of the most respected artists in the world started this way.
Director Spike Jonze built his path through skate videos and self-made chaos. The Duplass Brothers made their first film for $3 and a bag of pretzels. Photographer Juergen Teller rejected industry polish and reshaped fashion photography. Joshua Kissi moved seamlessly from photography to directing, always centering community.
They didn’t wait to be invited. They built something others wanted to join.
That’s the thing: you don’t need to be picked. You need to begin. And if you can bring a few like-minded people with you, even better.
5 Reminders for Building Your Own Lane
Waiting is often disguised fear. Don’t let “readiness” stall you.
Momentum beats polish. People notice consistency more than perfection.
Collaboration is rocket fuel. Build with others, not in isolation.
Visibility follows action. The more you make, the more doors open.
Be known for the work you actually want to do. Not just what pays.
Is there someone you care about who would benefit from these notes? Do me a favor and share this issue with them. It helps me a lot in getting Process out wide and far.
Your Turn — $250 Giveaway
What’s one project you’ve been quietly waiting for someone to “give” you, that you could start building yourself instead? It can be as small as a simple portrait assignment or as big as a body of work about a topic you’re fascinated by.
Share it in the comments and check out what others write. Let’s encourage each other.
One person will be randomly selected to receive this week’s giveaway: a $250 gift card for the Moment shop, to be spent on film, cameras, or accessories.
I’m still feeling the love from last week’s 200th issue! Thank you for all the kind and thoughtful messages. It means a lot that Process continues to resonate. If you missed that milestone issue, you can read it here.
Let’s keep shooting, learning, and sharing together. One messy, human step at a time.
Warmly,
Wesley
P.S. Some more summer street photos below.
📷 What I Used This Week
People often ask what I’m using and here’s this week’s setup:
Camera: Canon EOS R5 and the Canon RF 24-70 mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens. Fuji X100F. Fujifilm GFX 100S with a Fujifilm GF 80mm f/1.7 R WR. Hasselblad 500cm.
Film Stock: Kodak Tri-X. Kodak Portra 160CN.
This issue is supported by MPB.com, which is my personal go-to for buying, selling, or trading used gear. Everything comes with a 6-month warranty.
This issue is also supported by picdrop.com, which my preferred tool for building online galleries to let my clients review, select, and download photos from shoots. Use “PROCESS” at checkout to get a free 2-month trial.
Lab: My film is processed by Carmencita Film Lab. I trust them fully for both their work and their humanity. Use code "PROCESS" for a free upgrade on your next order.
Next Week
A first look at a brand new color film stock (!!). No re-packaging, no old stuff, actually a lovely new stock. I shot some rolls in medium format and 35mm during a test shoot with my friend Perzia and I’m excited to share.
Support Process & Elevate Your Photography
If these Sunday issues give you something, energy, motivation, a new way of seeing. you can support Process by picking up a book or joining the Process Photo Club.
Process Workbook Volume One & Two: Creative prompts and assignments designed to get you out of your head and into action with your camera.
€8.99 each (free for Process Photo Club members)
NOTICE Journal, Volume One: A fresh perspective on beauty and rebirth, shot in Amsterdam.
€40 (or €20 for Process Photo Club members)
📚 Order here and you help keep Process accessible to all. And remember, 10% off for the next 7 days by using the code 200CELEBRATION10 at checkout.
🗃️ Browse the Process Archives.
📜 Read the Process Manifesto.
🚧 Currently Working On1
Currently Working On / Project Updates (r = release date)
Process Redesign — Nearly done!
Process Workbook, Vol. 3 — Selecting images (r: Jul)
Creatives In/AMS — Pitching potential sponsors (r: Sept)
NOTICE Journal, Volume Two — Developing concept
25 in 2025 — Preparing for September shoots (r: Nov 7)
I've been quietly waiting for someone to give me the assignment: "Photograph the places you’ve already forgotten."
Old neighborhoods, abandoned corners of my hometown, places I once passed every day but never really saw. I’ve always thought someone else would prompt me to go back and document them as if I needed permission. But I’m realizing I could just start. Quiet streets, faded paint, all the small ghosts of memory. A personal archive of the overlooked.
Love this and needed this (gentle yet loud) reminder!!! My project is interviewing the elders around me and documenting photos, recipes, and anything else they're willing to share from their personal archive. I've been wanting to start this for a long time but getting out of my head has been hard. Thank you for the push.