2025 went by a lot faster than I thought. It felt like yesterday I was posting about what I wanted to accomplish for the upcoming year.

• I said I wanted to apply to more open calls (which I did, my rejection to acceptance rate was 12-11, almost 50%)

• I didn’t make any more zines beyond finally publishing Some Nights, which I’m proud of how it turned out; I just wish I had put together another publication before the end of the year.

• I did my first art fair, which went great! I had a lot of fun talking to people about my work, and I sold more than I expected that I would. I’ve also been accepted into another art fair (Deep Ellum Community Art Fair), which will take place in April, so I’m excited for that

• I had my first artist talk, which went better than I expected. Public speaking makes me extremely nervous; I still don’t know how I pulled it off. Definitely looking for another opportunity to do that again.

• I actually kept up with journaling for the most part, and I’m looking forward to reading what I wrote for this year sometime in the future.

• I only attended one fest, the 20/20 Photofest in Philadelphia, but if there was only going to be one, I’m glad it was that one. They run a fantastic fest up there. I’d like to talk to some people down here, see if we can get something like that going in Dallas. Plus, I was able to meet friend of the newsletter Dana Sterling IRL!

• I was supposed to attend Zinecinnati (in Cincinnati, OH) last year, but unfortunately, I was unable to. Hopefully, the organizers will accept me as a vendor when I apply again this year.

Let’s talk about those rejections:

A few months ago, I came across an article, which I “saved.” Meaning, I left an open browser tab on my phone so I could come back to it.

Literary Hub » Why You Should Aim for 100 Rejections a Year

Last year, I got rejected 43 times by literary magazines, residencies, and fellowships—my best record since I started shooting for getting 100 rejections per year. It’s harder than it sounds, but a…

It’s safe to say this article struck a chord with me…

Only 12 rejections? All year, only 12?

So, that’s goal number one for 2026.

100 rejections. Divide that by 12 months, and it works out to about 8.3 rejections a month. I don’t know how to pull off a third of a rejection, but I’ll find a way. But that’s a sheer number of open calls to enter, I’m thinking at least 10-15 a month. Given that we’re almost through January, I’m a little behind on things.

This means that I’m going to have to stretch some on what I’m applying to. I went through last year mainly applying to exhibitions, and I didn’t do any grant or residency applications. That’s a part of the rejection goal for this year.

Goal #2 is to make more work. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a slow photographer, but my 2025 pace was glacial; I don’t think I took more than 100 photos total last year. I’m not making it anywhere at that pace, and I need something to apply to all these rejections with.

Goal #3 is to experiment more and learn new techniques. I bought a book on wetplate collodion:

I’m not sure whether I’ll try to fumble my way through the book or if I’ll break down and take a workshop. But either way, I’m excited to try something new!

So that’s it for now, I’ll add more stuff as the year progresses.