I took portraits of 852 people in 2023!
852 is pretty nuts for me. That’s 852 (hopefully meaningful) connections and 852 times that I tried to capture a subject’s individuality. For some subjects, I spent over 4 hours with them. For others, I might have spent only 10 minutes.
The subjects include my main clients (artists, entrepreneurs, all regular people who need photos, really), employees at companies that hire me (typically the quickest portraits of the 852), and people I reached out to for personal projects. I didn’t count events or group photos. If you were one of the 852 this year, thanks for sharing a moment with me. You allow me to keep doing what I love doing!
Now the number would be meaningless if I didn’t care about the people and the results, or if I felt burnt out at the end of the year, or if I felt like I wasn’t creating something I found interesting. Every year, I look back and try to tweak and refine a few things to make sure I have the balance that I’m looking for. That’s work / life balance, but also commercial / personal photography balance. I can say that I was pretty proud of the balance I managed to strike in 2023, and I look fine tuning things for 2024.
So what’s next?
For starters, I’ll still be taking many portraits and running this portrait and headshot business. I’ll hopefully continue doing personal projects that motivate and inspire me. I’ve also started teaching photography! In September 2023, I was offered a teaching position at Collège Marsan. I’ve been loving sharing my experiences so far, particularly because I feel like my self-taught background and my full time photography career can give an important perspective for students.
For years I’ve been sharing my experiences and insights with established or upcoming photographers, but teaching has forced me to start organizing my thoughts more clearly. I’ve come to realize that I have more to share than what I do share in the classroom, so I’ve decided to add a series of evergreen articles on this website to help more prospective photographers.
I hope your 2024 year is starting off with a bang! Or with quiet and peaceful contemplation if that’s what you prefer.
Thanks for reading!