Photography in 2020

November 1, 2020 by kyle In photography, thoughts Leave a comment

Near the end of 2019, I made a promise to myself that I’d be more consistent with updating this website. I believed that it was important for me to maintain this website as a scrapbook/journal of sorts for my photography. We’re more inundated with photos today than humans have ever been, and I found that if I didn’t actively post images here I’d have a tendency to forget about the images I’d taken and spend all my time on the receiving end of photography. There’s nothing wrong from learning from the work of others, but if you don’t actively participate in the art you’re finished.

So for the first time in YEARS, I was motivated and in a rhythm to create and finish work!

And then 2020 happened.

I’ve been on this internet thing for a while now, and it seems that for the past decade people have gotten a kick out of complaining about every. single. year. Saying “20xx was THE WORST. Can’t wait for 20xx++!” Throw in a couple emojis and you’ve got a banger of a tweet.

I’ve always been annoyed by this sort of behavior, in large part because it felt like people were just trying to find an excuse to play the part of a victim. Complaining about how the world in the past is awful while simultaneously being optimistic about the future is 1. A great recipe for getting people to heart your post and 2. A subtle callback to the whole “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result” aphorism. If your life sucked last year, change something and make it better next year! Don’t pretend like the universe is just out to get you. Take ownership. And also don’t forget that you were unbelievably fortunate to be born in an era with air conditioning and food delivery and didn’t get dropped into the Middle Ages or some other equally awful period of history. Our lives in the Information Age are pretty freaking awesome!

But seriously, 2020 has been brutal…

A global pandemic, an ignition of long-kindling racial tensions, an election year with the most catastrophic and blatantly incompetent president of my lifetime, and a series of wildfires in my home state. It’s been tough.

On top of all these societal problems I’ve been dealing with some personal challenges. It’s nothing catastrophic or even worse than average on the spectrum of human struggles, but these challenges have helped get in the way of me making and sharing photos.

I’m not totally sure why I feel ready to start sharing photos again now, but I’m going to run with it. I don’t think I’ll be up to maintaining this website as frequently as I have in the past, and I’m not even sure what format the posts will take. All I know is that I don’t want to let 2020 beat me into apathy. Or, rather, I want to try to claw my way out of the hole I’ve been slowly sliding into…

I think it’s fitting that I don’t include any photos with this post, but I’ll have some to share soon…I promise 🙂