The year 2019 saw a return to high-volume photographic output.
Several years have passed since I shot over 5,000 images across twelve months. This year, with the aid of a new Canon camera and the ability to drive myself places, we once again topped 10,000 frames for the year. In some aspects, it doesn’t really seem like much. Then, I think how far behind I got with processing at times and there’s no question it has been a busy year.
Our processing methods progressed over the year as well. We were able to produce a lot more content in the Experimental Series and looking back at those images now is very exciting. I am more convinced than ever that this is a good direction for the future. In addition to that, I spent a great deal of time developing a higher level of digital art techniques that are especially noticeable in photographs posted in November and December. We’ll be looking for appropriate ways to advance those skills.
One significant event this year was having work accepted into juried art shows. I’ve shunned juried shows for several years, but this year seemed like a good time to change that stance. As a result, I won the People’s Choice Award for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival. Given the success of this past year’s attempts, that will definitely be a direction we will pursue in 2020.
We also exhibited a fair amount locally, but that proved to not be as successful. I am deeply disturbed by the fact that people in the Midwest don’t buy art as an investment when they buy art at all. I’ll be talking with connected people to discuss how to change that matter, but in the meantime, I think local exhibitions may not be worth the expense.
I enjoyed working with some incredible people this week, a cool mix of new faces and some I never shot before. It was especially great to have Pashur House back and have the privilege of witnessing his incredible talent. I’m very much hoping that we can re-connect again this year. Time will tell. I’m also hoping to find many new faces and personalities.
The downside, as usual, has been negative reaction to our work from people who are completely uninvolved and deserve no real voice. One model’s presence had to be completely scrubbed from our site to meet the demands of her new employer whose complaint is illegitimate at best and possibly illegal. Others have had to go by only their first names, a practice we’ve now adopted universally just to avoid any future problems. What can I say? The world is full of ignorant people and we cannot fight them all.
Looking back is fun. Rather than our usual format, though, I thought it would be easier to put some of my favorite shots from this year in a video. The seven-and-a-half-minute video includes at least one shot of every person and event we’ve shot this year. There’s no particular order, but it’s well worth watching to see your favorites. It’s been a creative year. I hope you enjoy the look back.