I found this article in The New Yorker to be a great read about creatives or in our case photographers who find their passion later than most in life.
A few notable quotes:
The Cézannes of the world bloom late not as a result of some defect in character, or distraction, or lack of ambition, but because the kind of creativity that proceeds through trial and error necessarily takes a long time to come to fruition.
Prodigies are easy. They advertise their genius from the get-go. Late bloomers are hard. They require forbearance and blind faith.
If you are the type of creative mind that starts without a plan, and has to experiment and learn by doing, you need someone to see you through the long and difficult time it takes for your art to reach its true level.
Related posts:
I just downloaded the New Yorker Out Loud podcast from October 13, which features Malcolm Gladwell (the author of the article you quoted). Well worth listening to.
Also, on 9/22, they featured Platon on their podcast.
Listening to them now Kevin. Thanks for the heads up.