Farewell to 2024

I am writing this on the last day of 2024, with the wind howling outside and dark yellowy-grey clouds scudding across the sky. The weather reflects the turbulences of 2024, climatically, politically and personally. I am wrapped up cosy under a blanket, with a candle flickering beside me and the smell of lemon and ginger tea while I think back over the year.

My ongoing journey in photography has been both a source of joy and frustration in 2024. I started with the project 'Letting Go', which really pushed me creatively, and this was enhanced by a photographic retreat in Scotland with Charlotte Bellamy and Ania Rolinska. We were encouraged to play around with art materials and gelli printing - all new to me! As was caputring the beauty of the Scottish landscape through multiple exposure photography:

This was followed by an adventure with my eldest daughter to Skomer to photograph puffins - a joyful time. I treated myself to an underwater camera in the summer which took me on another path, helping me to shoot very familiar locations from new angles. I have also deliberately explored some new places in Devon to give me some new ideas and perspectives, and played with intentional camera movement and white balance:

Another aspect to my year has been the visits to exhibitions, most recently in London for Monet and Van Gogh, and the Taylor Wessing Portrait prize. Elton John's Fragile Dreams was another highlight. I am thankful that I now have the time and the resources to be able to indulge in these treats.

It is interesting though that I have also had many months this year when I lost my way with my photography. I was in the doldrums, seemingly repeating the same approaches and replicating previous images. Which is bizarre considering the retreat in Scotland had given me so many new ideas, I just did not follow them up once I got home. I also became overwhelmed by the quality of work being produced by other photographers who had better technical skills, particularity in post-processing, or a better 'eye' for detecting something original. My social media feeds were constantly filled with amazing images using the latest AI. And that led to me feeling stuck.

It took a break away on a remote island, with no wi-fi or TV, to 'reset' and give me renewed enthusiasm, which spurred me into action in the last two months of 2024 (along with some wise words from a friend!). In future, I will make sure that I have at least a week after a photo retreat to revisit any new learning to embed it into my practice. I will also draw more on my course buddies and mentors, who are there for support. I was hopeful during the Letting Go project that I would become radical and open to sharing images of myself, but this is still a work in progress! I have also learnt that I am eager to start new projects, enjoy the participation and the process, but find it almost impossible to finish them. Held back by lack of confidence in my images, comparing my work (and thereby myself) negatively to others. I am finding this talk by Sean Tucker on imposter syndrome really helpful, as well as this advice from David du Chemin. And I was a little chuffed with myself that I did actually complete a 10 day festive challenge!

I am looking forward to new adventures in 2025, exploring different creativities and finishing at least one project along the way!