Looking Back and Moving Forward
As I head into 2023, I feel that it is important for me to take a look back at the past year and also to set my course moving forward.
2022 was a huge year for me - both personally and as a photographer.
For starters, I took the daunting leap of making an Instagram page to share my work with others. I currently have 1,070 followers, have made 75 posts and have been featured by numerous pages, notable ones including: NT Australia, ABC Australia, and ABC Darwin.
I also created this website! A space for me to share my portfolio and writing, to sell fine art prints of my work (which I am grateful to have sold a few), and as a means for building up my brand in hopes of creating a career for myself in photography.
Last year, I was also lucky enough to travel to Tasmania and Canada. In these two beautiful parts of the world I was able to connect with nature that I’d only ever dreamed of witnessing, meet incredible people of whom I’d never have had the chance to meet, and of course take a lot of photos. My solo travels in the Canadian Rockies were a time of great personal growth, and I would say that it was there that I felt like the best version of myself to date.
Over the course of the year, I also tried my hand at entering my work into various competitions. I submitted ‘Rainbow Sunset’ into the Advocate Art Awards here in Alice Springs, which stayed on exhibit for a month. The most special part of this experience was having my friends Tiana, Lee and Evie come to the launch night to support me. My photo ‘Three’s Not a Crowd’ (the image I’ve chosen as the cover for this journal entry) was a Top 5 finalist in the Robert Irwin Photography Competition! As a result, my photo has been featured in the Summer Edition of Crikey Magazine and is currently on exhibit at Australia Zoo and the Whale Mall outside of the QLD museum. I’ve been grateful to have multiple friends visit the zoo in that time and send me photos of themselves with my work. I am also currently awaiting the results of the Wilderness Photographer of the Year Competition and Australian Photographer of the Year Competition - which are announced at the end of this month!
And finally, just a couple of days ago, I was featured by Canon Australia as part of their 'Discover’ series, which aims to highlight emerging photographers and their work. Such a wonderful opportunity that I am thankful for.
It’s only as I sit here and write this, that the magnitude of the events of the year are dawning on me, and I feel both proud and incredibly grateful for the support I’ve received.
2023 is shaping up to be another incredible year, and I wanted to use this entry as a way of declaring my intent and aspirations moving forward.
In May of this year, I will be travelling to New Zealand with my friend and fellow photographer Lee, road tripping the North and South Islands and recording the experience as we go. I also intend to travel to Europe in the second half of the year, with the highlights being a solo trip to Iceland and catching up with some friends I made during my time in Canada!
This year I am going to make a more focused effort in building my brand and seeking opportunities to work with groups who share my ideals and care for the natural world.
Finally, and most importantly, I wish to keep growing as a photographer, writer, and human being - striving to be an active and avid participant in my own life, and someone who puts kindness at the forefront of everything he does.
It is hard to imagine how 2023 could possibly compare to 2022. But then again, I hope to be drawing a similar comparison to 2023 when next year comes around.
