I was sick through most of this December, which really didn't stop me from running to the mountains to shoot in freezing conditions, driving into snow-covered ditches (no tiny Versa Notes were hurt in the process), or eating no less than 4 Christmas dinners. However, it did mean that I crashed pretty hard after Christmas and came down with the flu through New Year's. Jamie and I changed our plans to spend the night in Vancouver, and instead we stayed home and watched terrible/awesome sci-fi movies like Space Hunter. (It was awesome, even if I was sick.)
My New Year's resolution is to find more time for what I love, and to make my space a happier one. At the end of November I wrote 6 papers (everyone I know has heard this fact many times and are super sick of it, but I keep repeating it because I WROTE SIX PAPERS.) and ended up spending a lot of time in my tiny office between writing and editing. Let me tell you: my office is a mess. I did that semester-end thing that people do where I basically let everything go, let things stay where they've dropped, and as a result this office is now a cluttered, dysfunctional mess. Fast forward to today, where I went and bought an amazing mid-century dresser, which I plan to use to dress up this space, along with some Cathy Terepocki / Kilnhouse planters and new wall prints (pictures to come, it's now officially my Sunday plan).
Back to those six papers I wrote though, one of them was on the use of visual language in dementia patients and it was SO interesting. Thinking about communication in terms of visual language is fascinating anyways, because I think art can convey the inexpressible, help us create visual aids to convey meaning and emotion without confining us to words. This is also something I've been trying to bring into my own work as well: moments over poses. I want to capture those candid, beautiful silences that exist in between our words.
So 2016. It was a year, hey? I did a lot of travelling this year, which is surprising considering I didn't plan on going anywhere. Instead, I ended up road tripping to Fort St. John with Brittany, then through the prairies with my Mama, and down to Iowa with Jamie to see my BFF Crystal get married in a tiny, darling American town.
I spent time with my cousins, I saw an elk chilling on the side of the road, I sang Eagles' songs at the top of my lungs down lonely BC highways, drove through my second set of funnel clouds in Alberta, ate a hot dog wrapped in a donut (nope.), and visited the lonely empty school I attended as an awkward preteen.
My brother got engaged! I did another year of my Masters. I started my internship. I made the cover of Louden Singletree. And I shot almost every single day.
Thank you to everyone who chose me to capture your memories this year. I photographed my last few weddings, and I couldn't have asked for more fabulous couples. My friend Jen and I got to shoot together (which is always awesome), I photographed proud mamas, babies, families, couples, artists, and beautiful, fabulous women.
Thank you everyone for trusting me with your stories.
Here's to a fabulous 2017.
