2023 Year In Review

I always enjoy reflecting on and organizing a year’s worth of images. It feels like a tangible way to contemplate, synthesize, and move forward. I particularly like sharing this work with all of you. My social media posts saw a sharp decline over the past year. It doesn’t feel like a place for creatives to share anymore, and all the click and rage bait just isn’t healthy. Maybe it’s the algorithm or maybe it’s because I’ve become more critical of my work as the years go by, but I can never decide what to share, and by the time I make the decision, I’m already onto the next thing. I get my satisfaction from creating great work for great clients. It’s usually when I’m bored that I turn back to social media.

It’s funny how the further I get into my photography career, the less personal work I seem to produce. I’m not proud of it. Don’t get me wrong; I still love to shoot and am addicted to making images. It’s just that I find it hard to live in the moment when I’m constantly looking for images. It’s a different state of mind. Here’s the battle: If I’m on a trip and plan to take photos, I’m all in. If I miss a shot, I’ll lose sleep. I don’t stop thinking about the collection of images that I want to create and painstakingly chase them. It’s debilitating and fulfilling. It’s an inherent pressure that I apply to myself. I’m all in or not at all. There may not be a solution to this besides returning to the ferocity and passion of the earlier years. Maybe a more focused personal project is the remedy. Stay tuned.

Anyway, this is my chance to give you all a peek into what I was up to in 2023. I love where this job takes me; it’s all I could have ever hoped for just ten short years ago at my corporate advertising job in NYC.

This year I spent a lot of time on campuses and in hospitals. I created unique portraits, headshots, and lifestyle imagery for a variety of corporate and non-profit clients. I also started focusing more on personal branding sessions for small businesses and professionals.

As many of you know, I focus heavily on higher education and general education photography. I find joy in educational settings and love to capture the genuine curiosity and playfulness in those environments. I did not slow down this year!

While I wish we were in the golden age of magazines, we are not. However, I’m lucky to get a chance to work with some of the best publications in Pittsburgh. Editorial photography and portraiture are where my heart lies. I love the places I end up and the people I meet. Combining environment, personality, and a narrative to tell a visual story gives me so much creative energy. This year, I had the opportunity to photograph cocktails for the cover story of Pittsburgh Magazine. My first non-mammal cover shot to date (only humans and goats until now)!

I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking. Hope to share more regularly with you all in 2024. Cheers!