When will I be famous?

As I get older I am occasionally reminded that I am in fact, knocking on a bit. The trouble is, I don’t feel any older than I did in my mid thirties.

A similar feeling pervades when I think of my standing as an artist/photographer.  Am I well known, or still a small contributor whose work pops up from time to time in the magazines? I still feel as anonymous as I did when I started out, even though I’ve had lots of work published. Comments I’ve had from others on Twitter, Flickr and Facebook suggest that I’m quite well known, but that’s not the way I see myself.

I am working in something I love, but would like to be considered a ‘serious’ photographer. My work seems to be very popular with other photographers and the general public, but not with galleries. I get turned down far more often than I believe is fair and consequently have a rather cynical view of exhibiting and galleries in general.

A number of years ago, I decided to forget about galleries and to concentrate on getting published instead. Since then my ‘image’ as a photographer has changed much more rapidly than it ever would have if I had pursued the exhibiting strategy.

I think that the public perception is that if a photographer is seen in more than three magazines then he or she must be famous. This has obviously worked in my favour.

But where do I take it next? I would like to build on the achievements I have to date, but I am unsure what to do. Should I now make a more concerted effort to exhibit again or approach other international publications?

I intend to continue to promote my workshops and private teaching and I will be supplementing this with video demonstrations on Youtube, but I would welcome any suggestions on what is basically marketing. Has anyone got any suggestions?