is there such a thing as 'improving' in photography?

i believe it's possible to recognize and fix more technical mistakes over time but in terms of going from good to great - from two dimensionality to three dimensionality (i mean that in the sense of having more than the generic figure + ground photography of most amateurs)- is that possible? has anyone done it before?

people like kubrick seem to have been great from the beginning and just become more nuanced over time..