It was a year when the world bloomed again and as life defaulted to what was before, it was almost like 2020 never happened. Not sure how to square that. I know there are plenty of many who were (and are) elated to be back out bursting in the sunshine. For me? I needed a gentler re-entry- kind of like steeping tea, I needed time to settle and soak in. Moving from silence to screaming has taken a bit of adjustment but in retrospect, I can’t deny the magnificence of being among people.
And I wasn’t alone - my day job was bananas as everyone everywhere was ready for in-person events again and it was a swirl of one running into another but amazing to travel and breathe in the air of new places despite the surrealism of 1000s of people huddled together without masks, but here we are.
In the midst of it all, just for fun, I had a serious hard drive crash and nearly lost every single photograph I’ve ever taken. I can’t describe the feeling one has at the possibility of one’s art being wipe clean. I got the lesson and took a good chunk of in preparations for a proper back-up system (hello synology). And because that wasn’t enough fun, the camera I’d had serviced was returned in a very different state (would not focus). As my go to for many years, I took a leap and unloaded my mainstay mark IV and fuji x for an R6 which has a bit of a learning curve.
All that to say, it wasn’t a year of abundant photographing with a camera and more of a year where my phone camera because a sketchbook. But I still have a handful of images I deem treasures - ones that linger long after they’ve been taken, and for that I’m grateful.
