Photography End of Year Review - 2020
“I don’t want realism. I want magic. Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth. I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!”
(A Streetcar named Desire).
If zombies were roaming the streets would things be that much different? There’s a whole bunch of stuff being written about the pandemic and I’m not going to labour on this too much.
I’ve shot one wedding this year. I have always diversified since I started in photography, shooting lots of portraits and images for bands and musicians and also my Dare training experience so I have been able to manoeuvre the rapids to some degree.
For me it’s been a year of projects - some paid - some not, all full of creative potential, and I hit the ground running in February with the first (and as it turns out last) two day Dare Workshop of the year. We were back at the Dolls House in Islington and it was a cracking few days and got me fired up to create some magic for the rest of the year.
Then lockdown hit and we’ve been in it with various modifications pretty much since March.
I’ve worked a lot with musicians on a variety of projects including several music videos for bands and solo artists. I also got the use of an incredible 5 floor town house in Kensington. I shot a whole bunch of portrait projects there as well as video and I also put on a smaller 1 day portrait workshop.
And then there is street photography.
I feel as photographers it would be ridiculous not to record these times as objectively as possible so I have gotten back into street photography in a big way.
It was this year also I got to thinking about my YouTube channel which was a mismatch of video and behind-the-scenes shoots and I decided to niche totally into street photography with it. As soon as I did I began to see a shift in viewers and subscribers in a positive way. I’m very excited about the future of this channel.
Oh, I also moved home. I’m at my mum's temporarily in East London and my plans for a move this year are adventurous to say the least.
Uncle Johnny passed earlier in the year. It was a sad time and yet an oddly beautiful one spent with family reminiscing and laughing at the great times we had with John. My heart is with his beautiful wife Janet and children Jody and James. Love you guys all the world. Losing John would have been a terrible challenge no matter the time but I can only imagine the added heartache the pandemic has introduced.
My uncle Brendan also passed away. I wasn’t as close to Bren’ but I loved him very much and it was a real heartbreaking time for his close family.
It’s been a challenging year for everyone. It has. It’s been a cruel year for so many people and I feel blessed that and my family haven’t experienced the extremes of the devastation this virus has caused.
And still … I have to see my life as an adventure. I refuse to see it any other way. That includes the apparent bad times as well as the good. For me it is a choice. I can’t choose what comes into my life but I can choose hopefully how I respond. It’s the only thing I can control.
The older I get the more blessed I feel to have the people in my life I have. I often find myself asking what I’ve done to deserve such good fortune.
I wish you all a special 2021 from the bottom of my heart.
Love G
