2020 Wrap-Up

Forward warning, you don’t have to read all this, in fact I encourage you not to. Sort of. Just flick through to the pretty pictures if you like otherwise I suggest grabbing a coffee or cracking a beer depending on the time. 

Where do I even start with this year? I’m sure you’re sick of hearing it but it’s been a rollercoaster to say the least. It all kicked off in a literal blaze and the rumblings of what was to become a global Pandemic only to wrap up in a similar fashion. So did it matter? Did anyone actually get anything done or is it a collective write-off for us all?

My partner, my best friend and myself managed to sneak under the wire to Japan for most of February. Tokyo’s honestly the best city I’ve ever visited, every nook and cranny of the place has something new to discover. My biggest takeaway though was the cleanliness and politeness of everyone, especially in a city with more than nine million people. The main reason we went over though was to snowboard and Hakuba Valley provided diligently. Side note if you need a place to stay check out Yuki Wonder, run by good buddy Jake Foxley a New Zealand expat that briefly lived on the Sunshine Coast as well. 

I naively racked up some debt while over there coming home to promise of a full time gig working in commercial content creation on the coast. Not knowing what the full impact of Covid was going to mean on my employment. Within a couple of weeks of being home not only had that job evaporated, my hospitality job also shut down. So many people will relate to this and so many more had it way worse but for the first time in my adult life I was unemployed. Needless to say, I racked up some more debt  for a few weeks there paying the rent and possibly buying beers.

What happened next you ask? You’re enthralled by this enthralling story so far right? Quietly asking yourself, who’ll play him in the movie? Maybe do something like that Bob Dylan movie and I’ll get Cate Blanchett to play me. I’ll tweet at her.

What happened next was I started figuratively re-inventing the wheel I guess. I still had my camera and a whole bunch of free time suddenly. As somewhat of an extravert I didn’t realise how much I needed social interaction until I was told I wasn’t allowed any. So I began reaching out to people who were comfortable with some socially distant shooting, I collaborated and I got to drive through the Brisbane CBD just on sunset without a single car on the road. I felt like a teenager again, fresh out of school with all my mates in riding distance. 

As work was disappearing in early March I was invited by Rene Danika, a Brisbane-based visual artist to participate in a group exhibition at Bloodhound Bar titled ‘Revolt - A Placard Exhibition and fundraiser for Jonathon Sri’. It was the first time in a long time I’d fucked with my work in a way, cutting up cheap black and white prints to create a collage that represented a sense of diversity and collective urgency, which only seems more relevant now looking back.

The first major project I started in lockdown was my ‘Front Door Series’ which if I’m being honest began as a way for me to be able to go share a beer with mates around the coast. But being able to share a beer with strangers and friends on their driveways became such a huge outlet not only for myself but everyone who volunteered for the project as well. I talked to them about their jobs, their home lives and missing family and friends. For the most part though on Sunshine Coast anyway, people were happy, they shared that sense of freedom and were making the most of their spare time.

Coinciding with this series, I won my first grant application through Creative Spaces and the Sunshine Coast Council. They commissioned a series of photos by six artists documenting homelife during COVID-19 lockdowns on the Sunshine Coast. My images were a series of self portraits challenging not only the idea of home but also myself. It was a major first for me being that vulnerable in such a public manner but the series was well received and I breathed a little sigh of relief.  

I built this website, set up a store and offered my work to be sold through other avenues including Sticks and Stones, Cream Town and Our Prints Together. I don’t think I’ve ever sold that many prints in my whole career nor will I ever again probably. For that I’m super grateful to everyone who purchased work or even shared it around. You literally helped pay the rent and put food on the table. 

The ‘Front Door Series’ didn’t end the way I would've liked it too, restrictions suddenly began lifting and it became too difficult to line up with people. So I just sort of stopped it, for the time being anyways. Shoots started getting booked again and the hospitality work was only getting busier as everyone tipped toed around wondering how long it could last before we were locked down again. 

As all this was happening the Black Lives Matter movement took the world by storm once again. Not only were protests happening globally but there was also a major movement on social media to demand better. Black squares were posted, content was withheld and protest organisers around the world shared information around the protests and what was happening. I donned a mask, grabbed my hand sanitizers and photographed protests on the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, June 6 and 7th respectively. A selection of these images were also accompanied with words from local protest organisers.  

This marked a change in how I used and continue to use social media. I pivoted from just sharing my work to sharing information around the news and politics trying my best to humanize our overwhelming influx of information. It’s also encouraged me to dig deeper into my own practice, my motives and reasons for why I feel a need to create. I’ve done my best this year to elevate the voices around me, to buy art and to share others' work as a way for me to help in rebuilding a sense of community.

Part of this has been exploring my self portrait work further and offering up to pose for photographers and life drawing. I’m still struggling to share this work or to find the through line with it all but it's part of maintaining integrity and honesty in my practise. To experience what many subjects and models experience, to learn more about myself, to challenge my identity and to find ways to be completely vulnerable and honest in my work. Overall it’s been an amazing way to connect with new artists and to find other avenues for self expression. 

I’ve made myself available for workshops, curation, exhibitions and artists talks including but not limited to Life Drawing Session, James Hornsby’s Workshop at Sub Tropic, ‘BoneZone’ at Netherworld and Curated by Shani Finch, Confluence - at Vacant Assembly and curated by Luna May, Good Chats at SubTropic organised by Jessica Abraham both as a punter and guest speaker and curated the ‘Creative Spaces (in)Residence Lightbox Exhibition at Sub Tropic.

Right at the very end of the year, Alison Mooney hosted a workshop titled ‘Disrupt’ that I volunteered for without any real sense of what it was. I didn’t realise it would be the thing that neatly tied up this whole year and attempted to make sense of what I was doing and why. The workshop has also challenged me to continue disrupting my work and to explore different mediums for expression. Such as this long winded wrap-up of 2020, so you can blame Alison if you’ve made it this far. A big thanks to all of the other artists (Please check their work; Fat Dog, Alex, Molly, Evelyn , Petalia and Rosie) and the guest speakers including Jake, Rebecca, Hamish, Amelia and Ben that made up the rest of the workshop. They have been a huge inspiration and helped to push my own creative pursuits further and I hope to find ways to keep working with them.

I’ve worked with bands, artists and shot exhibition openings. I’ve worked for businesses and brands. I’ve also worked with countless people for private solo sessions giving them space to explore themselves. These sessions are super rewarding and I love the chance to spend time with people I wouldn’t normally get to meet. I’ve shot with sex workers and couples, I’ve worked with people starting their only fans up and with people who just wanted to surprise a lover or friend with a shoot. Through it all though it’s all been about helping people connect. To connect with themselves, each other and their communities. To encourage people to challenge their sense of self and place and what it all fucking mean to them.

Thanks for humouring me with this and hopefully if you made it this far there’s a takeaway for you in there somewhere. See you next year, I guess, hopefully. Love and thanks to everyone who’s been there this year.