The thing is, a viewer couldn't care less.
They don't know the backstory. They just look at the image. They see a photograph, not an adventure. Then again, nobody looks at anything with complete neutrality. We all bring something to the table: familiarity with the genre, a sense of what others are doing, what's trending, what's been photographed a thousand times before. And of course, an idea of what might look better. Better? That's not objective either. The entire act of looking is subjective.
And yet, or perhaps precisely because of that, an outside perspective is so valuable. It's only when someone else looks at your portfolio and says, "This one and this one and this one are basically the same picture three times," that you suddenly see the repetitions in your own work. Before, they were three completely different images, taken on different days, with different people, under different conditions.
Now they're three variations on the same theme, and two of them could go.
You start to notice where tension is missing, where variety is lacking. Where contrasts in the presentation blur together. You hear unfamiliar voices, different opinions. Criticism that isn't necessarily flattering.
I remember a colleague who proudly showed me his portfolio. Fifty images, all technically flawless, all featuring the same melancholic gaze into backlight. By the third picture I thought: beautiful. By the tenth: right, okay. By the twentieth I was wondering whether the model was even capable of looking in another direction. He didn't see it. To him, every single image told its own story. To me, it was one story told fifty times.
And because you shouldn't throw stones when you live in a glass house, I haven't made a big deal of this until now. But yes: I do offer portfolio critiques on request. For photographers who want to improve their website or their social media presence. Who want to hear what's missing, what could be stronger, which images weaken the overall impression rather than support it.
I ask uncomfortable questions. I encourage people to remove the odd image and make bolder choices. I explain my reasoning. These aren't purely subjective whims but assessments based on over 25 years of experience in the visual field. And yes, there will be praise too. Probably more than you'd expect. But praise alone doesn't move anyone forward.