Reflecting On 2019 And Looking Forward To 2020

Another year almost has gone again, and what a year it was.

Before reflecting on 2019 and looking forward to 2020, however, I would like to thank my readers and followers of this blog and my Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts! It is great and inspiring to know that there are folks out there who are interested in my work and thoughts: THANKS!

2019: a year of change

2019 was a year of limitations and a year of change: for my photographic work and for my personal life.

For image management and editing, I moved from using LightRoom to using ON1.

I left Zenfolio as my website and blogging platform for Squarespace.

After reflecting on what type of photography I want to work on going forward, I changed my main website to focus on street and social documentary images.

I still want to create fine art images, and moved to display and sell those to Picfair

I spent 9 months on assignment in South Africa. While it was good to see and work with the team there again it put quite some restrictions on my photography. The Kameraz photo walk was a highlight and I create several images that might end up in an essay on being on assignment without my family.

End November I got the message that I was part of a cost-cutting reduction in force exercise with my employer for 19 years.

2019: Goals and Achievements

Now let’s have a look at the goals I set for 2019 and see which ones I have accomplished.

• Continue with digital photography

  This goal definitely has been accomplished, and the purchase of the Fujifilm X100F definitely helped. It is a great camera for street photography and I used it quite extensively, to the point that I almost made no images with the X-Pro1;

• Do film photography if and whenever possible, looking at it as a bonus

  Surprisingly, I create more film images than I expected when leaving for South Africa. After discovering a photo lab just 30 minutes from the office and then being able to buy a Leica M4 with a 50ies Summaron lens for a very good price I was able to start working with film quite a lot.

• Continue to publish PicTales, Haiku, Essays, and general art and photography articles

  Although I kept my blog posts going at a steady pace, I abandoned PicTales and Haiku completely in favor of general art and photography articles. My decision to focus on street and documentary photography also impacted the type of articles I published.

• Continue to offer open edition prints for sales through this website

  Focusing on the website and blog on street photography and essays, I moved away from selling prints through the website. I continue to produce and sell fine art prints, which now are available on my Picfair page.

• Continue to submit to Calls For Entries and Contests

  I submitted a couple of images to The Glasgow Gallery Of Photography, some of which have been accepted. So I consider this goal accomplished too.

• Work on two new photography projects

  Although I created some images for a possible project about going on an international assignment on my own, this goal has not been accomplished to the extent I would have wished.

• Use the limitations set on equipment and time available to focus on specific subjects and types of photography, and learn, learn, learn.

  Being on assignment to South Africa without my family totally changed how I spent my time off. As a consequence, I have been able to watch a lot of YouTube movies about photography, the history of photography, and photography lessons.

  I also learned a lot from using almost exclusively the Fujifilm X100F and Leica M4. Which, in addition, helped me to decide on what photographic genre I want to focus on for my main photographic endeavors.

So, basically, even with the restrictions of place and opportunities I experienced in 2019 I am quite happy with what I was able to accomplish.

Now, after the break, let’s have a look at my objectives for 2020

2020: moving forward

Starting with my employment situation; as I said to my team when I shared the news of my redundancy: we not always can influence the change we have to go through, but we can influence how we react to that change. I don’t know where I will end up, not even if we possibly have to move to another region of the US, but I am looking at new opportunities as we speak. And as the saying goes: when one door closes, other doors will open.

Being at home for a while also will provide me with some quality time with my family, and a period of being able to spend more time on my photography.

Every cloud has a silver lining, so to say.

Regarding photography, I have set a couple of straight forward goals which I should be able to accomplish:

• Focus on Street and Social Documentary Photography;

• Work on one or two documentary projects;

• Continue to create Fine Art Photography images and offer these for sale at Picfair;

• Continue to work with digital and film.

Let’s see what the year will bring and approach it in a positive and constructive manner.

Thank you again for reading and following and all the best wishes for 2020 to you all!

Eric