2024 In Retrospect
I was going to begin this newsletter with a tirade about how most people pursuing some kind of career in the arts are well and truly down bad in 2024, but I had a change of heart.
Instead, while recollecting my year, I realised that I was relatively satisfied with some of the things I’ve achieved. Perhaps the most notable shift was a mental one, away from targets or hopes to work as a full time photographer and instead toward pursuing work in education.
I would like to lecture in photography at some point, but this year I started a role at a secondary school as a photography technician and it has been both a challenging and wonderful experience so far. Youth is naive and ignorant but also confident and daring and in all things, full of vitality. I’ve been able to learn some things myself through working with some of the students and within the amazing facilities at the school.
I’ve been really fortunate with some of the commissioned work I’ve been able to do this year. David Harewood and Michael Kiwanuka are perhaps my standout experiences. It’s a bit of a cliche to say, but it’s genuinely exciting that as a working photographer, you never quite know where you’ll be asked to go with your camera.
The development programme I began last October with GRAIN ended this summer and I’m currently being exhibited in a group show at The New Art Gallery Walsall in Walsall until March 9. The work on show includes unseen work from my ongoing project Whims of the Rye.
One of the images from that body of work was also shortlisted in this year’s Palm Photo Prize, which was a real surprise and a great honour to be amongst so many gifted artists.
Competitions are funny things. It’s undeniable that going far in competitions or winning them provides an amazing confidence boost, but I feel it’s far more important to be motivated by what I’m making and to be validated by the communities I’m a part of or connected to. Even if I sometimes forget it! In recent years I’ve tried to be more mindful and deliberate about what I submit to. It has meant that I submit to far less these days which goes directly against the notion of casting a wide net, but I think it serves me better to figure out why I want to submit and how it may help me, whether I’m selected or not.
If you follow me on instagram, you may have noticed that I’ve been posting more black and white work these days. I got a view camera in 2022, but I’ve used it more this year than ever before. I’ve even used it on commission. Sheet film is amongst the most expensive film there is and If I were to use colour sheet film regularly I’d have to remortgage, which would be a challenge because I don’t have a mortgage. So I always knew I would have to consistently develop my own negatives if I wanted to seriously use the camera regularly. This year, I worked on making that happen. It’s a learning process, I’m still trying to build up my experience and troubleshoot when necessary, but there is something satisfying about buying some film and knowing you won’t need to spend any more money beyond that point. Right now I’m exploring different film stocks, refining my process and just having fun. It’s been a pleasant reminder that taking a break from thinking intensely about a project can be a good thing!
In the future I would like to try working with colour sheet film (initial forays into colour developing ended in disaster) and to explore alternate and/or sustainable methods to traditional chemicals.
I have of course made some progress with Whims of the Rye. This year hasn’t been just about making new work, which is ongoing and continues, but with experimenting. Not just with the form but how I present the work. The first example of this was probably at a talk I gave with the Photojournalism Hub, about the project in general. Because long form projects often shift and change, sometimes quite drastically, speaking about a project while you’re making it is always a bit tricky. I’m not sure I enjoy doing it, but it’s good practice pretending I know what I’m talking about, I guess.
So looking back I have to say I’m mostly grateful for the year I’ve had and thankful that I have a great community of colleagues, friends and loved ones who continue to prop me up and support me. If you commissioned me, pointed me in the direction of work or an opportunity, if you accepted an invitation to sit for me, or we had a chat about photography or life, or politics or whatever, I’m grateful to you.
In 2025, I’ll be looking to continue to work on and expand my project, but I’d also like to explore starting something new. Unfortunately I have a very single-track mind which has made even contemplating this in the past, a challenge. I’d very much like to print more and progress my skills in darkroom printing. I’d also like to explore selling some prints in 2025. I don’t know what the context for this will be and I may put feelers out to get an idea of interest but I’ll be sure to mention any developments here.
I don’t think I’ve been alone in thinking a lot about global politics this year. In recent months I’ve been thinking about the intellectual expectations we have of art and whether those expectations allow us to correctly infer what is possible through it. I’ve thought about the corrosive nature of capitalism and the numerous moral contradictions it forces on us all, or how within that context, even good intentions are warped and contorted. I’ve also wondered about the increasing prevalence of “AI” and whether we can really make use of a tool that effectively supplants our imagination. I’m not so sure. But what do I know? Instagram is ruining my brain. Sorry if that’s a downer to end on, welcome to my world. My partner says I need to mix things up and read some lighter stuff, so I’m taking recommendations for easy going novels for next year (they will be at the bottom of the pile though). Happy holidays everyone, in 2025 we go again.
I’ll be back in the new year, though probably not right at the start of it.
