2023 has been an amazing year for me. I remember starting off the year really anxious about where I was going in the long run with my photography and worried that due to the major changes in algorithms and stuff my work would fly under the radar completely.

I couldn’t of been more wrong.

I’d never really travelled around a lot before this year began. I’d been to Iceland on a school trip and Jamaica to visit family but that had been years ago. So if I’m honest when I first got on the plane for Barcelona it felt like a completely new experience all over again. To start of the year with a quick trip to Barcelona would motivate me to make it a more regular thing to do as the year continued. It was time to see what was happening outside of the City of London.

I’ve already spoken about my overall experience about Barcelona in a previous blog post but to summarise very briefly, I loved it and got some amazing photographs while out there too. I’ve been debating whether or not to go back for another brief weekend sometime in 2024 but with my eyes set on Budapest and some hot countries to lounge about in, we’ll have to see…

March also began with a bang as I was given the opportunity to shoot behind the scenes on Levi Roots Soundclash production. Out of all the shots I got on this day, this one will always be my favourite. It’s a very simple behind tyhe scenes look at one of the models for the poster getting ready for the shoot with a lot of vibrant colour and nice frame in frame composition. It’s a photo that to this day I’m very proud of taking and is one I always signpost to when people look to see my portfolio.

June was a very important month for me in regards to my photography. For a mental health magazine being produced by YoungMinds I decided to take some pictures that would help to convey my experience of mental health to go along my words. Self portraits can be tricky and time consuming at times and it didn’t help that I was shooting in a public place (I get a bit anxious) but when I got home and began editing, I realised I’d struck gold with these photos and I was so proud of myself.

This work then led to me shooting the ‘End the Wait’ campaign for YoungMinds a few weeks later which was not only a lot of fun but rewarding as well. To be apart of this campaign, let alone being the one to shoot it was an achievement that has stuck with me to this day.

Since then I’ve had the honour of working on other shoots for YoungMinds throughout the year which has been amazing. I’ve wanted to work with the charity since I was seventeen so it really has been a dream come true for me.

I had a lot of fun shooting portraits throughout the year. I’ve noticed a steady change in how I go around shooting them compared to how I did back in 2022 and I think it boils down to how confident I feel when working with people these days.

I think it’s important to recognise that it can be a bit nerve racking working with people and directing them into different poses and I also think that it’s important to recognise as cliche as it sounds that it really does just come down to practise. If I’ve learned anything this year it would definitely be that confidence is key and I think most will agree that this can be said for most things in life…

I plan to get a lot more creative with my photoshoots in the new year and I really am excited to begin excuting them as soon as possible starting with another one conveying experiences of mental health I’ve been looking to produce for quite some time so stay posted for that!

I don’t think I’ll ever stop indulging in street photography. I started out my photography journey just walking around Central London with an old Nikon camera so it’ll always have a part to play while I’m still taking photos.

My overall style hasn’t changed too much over the year as I’ve finally nailed the type of colours I use to portray the City of London with really vibrant red tones and luminance blues…

My new years resolution in regards to my street work is to keep my camera with me at all times. There’s been too many times I’ve seen something interesting whilst commuting somewhere and wishing I had my camera so I aim to use all my resources to make this resolution happen and continue long after 2024 has ended.

This year has truly been a blessing. I’ve learnt a lot about not just myself but my photography too and my goal is to utilse these lessons and produce even better work in the new year.

My plan is to focus more on exhibits, campaigns and youth work in 2024 as from a career perspective, these are what are the most important to me right now and I’m really excited to begin executing the plans I have for these three categories in the new year.

I also plan to be MUCH less active on social media next year. I want to make my presence online a lot more casual so I’ll be posting out of enjoyment instead of for the numbers which should help me stay slightly more sane when thinking about these damn algorithms…

And finally, I wanted to thank everyone who’s supported me this year. I know I’ve said it a lot both in this blog and in general but I’m really excited for the new year and I hope you are too!

Enjoy the last of 2023 as thoroughly as you can and of course, stay tuned for many more blogs and photos in 2024! :)