2025 Wrap Up: Happy Christmas!!!
As this year winds down, it feels like the right moment to reflect on the last year.
The new website quietly turned six months old this winter. In that time, I have shared eighteen blog posts, each one an attempt to be a little more honest about the process of making work, rather than just showing finished results. I’ve been grateful for every view! From China to Germany its been awesome to know my small contributions to the photography / book space have been read internationally!
Through Water & Ruin has continued to travel further than I ever expected. It now has over ninety readers, has been purchased in five different countries, and sits in eight libraries across the country. It has been featured in S42 Magazine, Reflections Magazine, and the Derbyshire Times, holds a 4.9 out of 5 rating on Amazon, and is available in store at Waterstones Chesterfield. Somehow, it even made it into the window display there, which still feels unreal.
Alongside the book, something else shifted this year. I began writing my second LumiNovel, focused on fear, anxiety, and the slow process of building confidence in portrait photography. That work is still very much in progress, though I have been sharing the odd snippet.
Photographically, I also shot more than I ever have in a single year. Eight photoshoots in total, with the last six being solo studio days rather than workshops. That change alone marks a real step forward for me. I have gained far more confidence working in studios, even though I know there is still plenty to learn. The fear has not vanished, but it no longer stops me from showing up.
What next then? Well 2026 I hope will mark the end of a decade long journey to overcome my own shortcomings in portrait photography. The journey of which will make my next book. The book I will be working on further so that it can start taking shape.
I’m going to continue sharing behind the scenes info, writing standalone posts and also any other relevant thoughts you may find interesting.
If you have read a post, bought a book, shared a kind word, or simply followed along quietly, thank you. It genuinely means more than you probably realise.
I hope the next few days offer you a chance to pause too. To rest, to reflect, and perhaps to make something small and personal, just for yourself.
Wishing you a brilliant Christmas and of course a happy new year too!