In which nothing much happened

Man + Dog, Blackpool Promenade, April 2021 || Nikon Fm2n, Ilford HP5+

A year ago I wrote about saying “good riddance” to 2020, and vaguely hoped for a better 2021.

Sorry about that not working out.

2021 was, for me, a year in which not much happened, at least photographically. The studio was shuttered for a large chunk of time, and commissions were few and far between, as I pursued non-photographic work as a way of making sure that the business stayed healthy and that I was able to pay the rent.

Of course the knock-on to that is that it left me feeling like not-a-proper-photographer, but when did I ever feel like I was a proper photographer, anyway?

On top of that there was COVID (which I finally stopped managing to avoid just before Christmas; thankfully my case was very mild, though I’m still trepidatious about the coming weeks will bring, knowing that Long COVID is no joke) and various personal stressors, including but not limited to owning a horse who seems to want to spend her life causing drama at inopportune moments.

Towards the end of the year, though, I did start to do more things: the studio re-opened, and I’ve started work on a separate brand for headshots (for reasons I’ll discuss another time). I started work, too, on a long-term project with a frequent collaborator of mine, which will hopefully at least start to come to fruition in the first quarter of 2022.

Oh, and I shot a lot of photos on film, and conceived of a short film that I want to shoot, using powered flight as a metaphor for creativity…

So maybe stuff did happen in 2021 after all. Maybe I just didn’t talk about it to myself very much.

Here’s to your 2022, whoever you are. I hope it’s a safe, happy, healthy and creative one.

2020: Good Riddance

Headshot clients from 2020 — Reuben, Séamus and Isabelle

It’s New Year’s Eve. And instead of attending a party with friends I am, like so many of you, sat at home. And in my case, writing my first blog entry in nearly two years (the last one was in April 2019, for crying out loud).

The studio is cold and quiet, and will stay that way until the current Tier 4 restrictions get lifted. Bookings this year have been scant — that’s okay, I’ve had other ways to keep busy and keep the lights on — and the time and energy needed to do more creative and conceptual work have been scanter still.

And as we celebrate this arbitrary line in the sand, this throwing-in-the-bin of the year just gone, coupled with unreasonable hope for what begins tomorrow, I don’t know when I’m going to be picking up a camera again, at least not professionally.

Maybe when I do it’ll be more headshots, Maybe it’ll be something more “arty” (whatever that means). Maybe, maybe, maybe…

Here’s hoping your 2021 is better than your 2020 was, whatever that means.