A look back at 2020
This time last year I sat down to write a blog looking back on what had been my busiest year yet as a professional photographer and I was already looking forward to another exciting year ahead. I guess 2020 wasn’t without excitement but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what was to come.
It’s fairly safe to say that few people (apart perhaps from those who have shares in Zoom) will be looking back on 2020 with fond memories and even fewer of you need me to tell you what an awful year it was. The world and the way we live has been drastically changed, perhaps forever by a virus and the consequences affected many of us in ways we couldn’t have imagined.
The worldwide effects of Coronavirus are beyond the scope of this blog though, this is just about my personal experiences and from a purely personal point of view, while I’m not going to pretend it was all plain sailing, looking beyond the changes to daily life and the inconveniences, I have to ask, was it really that bad?
Well at times, yes. Like many self-employed people, comparing my 2020 income with the previous year makes depressing reading. Restrictions and lockdowns have forced me to cancel workshops and commissioned jobs and overseas travel, which makes up a rather large chunk of the aforementioned income, was obviously greatly affected. In 2019 I spent 70 days working abroad on workshops and commissions, last year it was just 7. I am in the fortunate position to do a job that I love, so as much as I missed the loss of income, I also missed the travel, the laughs, the excitement when everything comes together and of course the photography (if not the early alarm calls). It was also difficult not being able to see family, especially as the first lockdown came not long after the death of my father.
I think however that the positives far outweigh the negatives. First of all I wasn’t directly affected by the health consequences of the virus, my sympathies are with anybody who was but thankfully I don’t know anybody who died or even had serious symptoms. Secondly, unlike many other small businesses who were harder hit by restrictions or overlooked by grants, I have still made a living. Despite having to cancel an awful lot of work, my family hasn’t gone without, in fact quite the opposite.
The first lockdown meant I had a break from travelling, spent more quality time with my dog (and wife) and, after a bit of a hectic 2019, I had some enforced but much needed time off. And it was good timing, the weather during that period was remarkably good and living in a tiny rural village, social distancing was easy, unavoidable even. We would take the dog for long daily walks discovering and exploring the local footpaths without seeing a soul. I had a heap of things to catch up on like processing images and all the other office-type things that I never get round to. More excitingly I found myself with time to get my teeth into my next book, Photographing Essex, my second guidebook for Fotovue. As lockdown was eased I was able to run all of my workshops, thanks to a few rearranged dates and some very understanding and flexible clients and as much as I enjoy the solitude of landscape photography, it was great to watch the sunrise with a group of photographers.
The lack of travel also gave me time to start scouting new workshop locations closer to home and I made several trips to the Peak District, an area that I have fallen in love with. The more I look back the more good memories there are but don’t get me wrong there were downs as well as ups. New restrictions and local lockdowns in the autumn brought most of my workshops to a grinding halt and I have to admit that things became increasingly difficult as the year progressed. The uncertainty of changing and increasingly complicated rules made it virtually impossible to make any plans and it was quite depressing to be unable to work while watching people flouting the rules, spreading the virus and ensuring the restrictions would drag on.
Photography is a great way to escape and clear the head though and I did manage to get a few images I am proud of during a turbulent year (a few of which are featured here) which for me makes it a success. In short, while this clearly wasn’t a year to fulfil all of our dreams and wishes, it was a year to appreciate what we already have and I for one have a lot to be thankful for. That said, I can’t keep this positivity up forever so if we could get back to something approaching ‘normal’ asap that would also be appreciated.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy new year!