2025 is here. It started abruptly with my wife telling me to awake and greet the sunrise. I must be coming down with something as I felt groggy and a headache was moving its way from my frontal lobe into the vacuous space between my ears. Seven glasses of wine, two whiskeys and lots of screaming doesn’t normally affect me so I must have the new 2025 bird flu. That could explain the dizziness, nausea, scratchy throat and the late night texts to our kids trying to show them how cool mum and dad are. I am now joyously sipping on my morning coffee, the excitement of the new year, new ideas, new enthusiasm and the new speedos my wife bought me filling my thoughts. Really, I’m just looking forward to the new me! Slim, six-pack packing legend photographer who’s a snappy dresser, kind to animals and drives a Bugatti. I am a man of simple taste, if it contains hops or grapes, I’m in!
So what is my new years resolution you ask? I have given it some thought and as much as a six pack and a Bugatti would be nice they aren’t really resolutions, are they?! A resolution is a promise to yourself and can take on many forms. Most of us will never stick to our resolutions longer than the day after the New Years Eve party, so why make them? They are made because you think there is something about yourself you can improve. Now let's face it, we are all flawed. My wife, however, is not. She is perfect and her choice in men is outstanding. Along with me she likes Brad Pitt and Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings. I fit perfectly into that trio of manhood. But there is still room for improvement and growth. I have the growth sorted and a simple loosening of the belt fixes that problem. If I was to be honest, I would say a bit more humility would be nice, perhaps more courage and self restraint at the sight of a cinnamon scroll. But those ideas aren’t sustainable, I’m a glutton who is scared of a lot of things - mainly of having to share my cinnamon scroll. So failure IS an option!
Now as a photographer, have I failed? Did I produce any work of note in the past 365 days? I would have to say, “Hell yeah”. My wife will say to me, “Show me your brilliance”. If I can impress her, I know I have achieved greatness. Did I develop my style, did I improve my technique, did I create anything unique? You can be the judge of that. Art is as varied as peoples taste. I like cinnamon scrolls but some people like brussel sprouts. I generally try to avoid those people, I mean, why wouldn’t you?
What does the next 365 days look like for me? I have two exhibitions coming up in February, one at the Leica store in Sydney and one in the Leica store in Melbourne. Hopefully some trips to the south coast of WA, a trip through the centre of Australia and then into the Alpine region, possibly a trip to Germany with Leica and a follow on extended tour of Europe and most likely a trip north with the camper to avoid some of the winter! All of which I will be packing my cameras and looking for the next best image I have ever taken! I better get cracking, only 364 days to go. I’ll start tomorrow though, the bird flu is starting to spread to my stomach. I need the only known cure, a delicious cinnamon scroll. Better loosen that belt some more!