I always say that I like to destroy my images: I push film and work on my digital images to add grain, increase the contrast, remove details in the shadows and highlights. I seek imperfection.
It was this imperfection that allowed me to find my own style and to feel more free in my photography.
Finding your own style
I've been told many times that my images have a very distinct look to them, people can tell my work from other photographer's. This is mostly due to shooting monochrome and the subject matter, but also to my very own aesthetics and style.
When we chase things like sharpness, proper exposure and focus to show everything in the frame, color accuracy... we narrow down our options of making images our own.
Imperfect images are good for creativity: you can do whatever you want with them! It's all up to you and your personal taste, you create your own aesthetics. Imperfection gives you the freedom to be you, to be unique.
They are intriguing
An image that isn't properly exposed, lacks details, hides things in the shadows, and so on, doesn't tell the whole story. Some parts of it are up to the viewer and their imagination.
Surely something we want to avoid in areas like photojournalism, but not when we are creating art.
The older they get, the better
This approach makes images timeless. Actually, a print will look better over time than it does today!
The paper might get some wrinkles here and there, the whites might start to become yellows, some scratches might appear... all of those elements are only going to make the image even more imperfect, thus better.
An image that was aiming for perfection will look worse.
Perfection doesn't exist
Imperfection is better than perfection, because perfection doesn't exist: the more we try to achieve it, the more obvious will be we couldn't reach it. Embrace imperfection and the beauty in it.
Imperfection makes you free
A big upside to shooting monochrome, purposely decreasing the dynamic range of your negatives and digital files, and making them less sharp: you can create images with any camera. In fact, the worse the camera is, the better. This is freedom, and why I love my small RX100 cameras.