A look back at 2023
Sharing some of my favorite photographs I made, moments I experienced, things that I watched and listened to in 2023.
I’ll try and keep this short and sweet but I wanted to do a quick wrap up of all my favorite things from 2023. This past year felt like such a whirlwind that it’s hard to nail down some of these categories. But I’m so thankful for all the things I’ve seen, experienced, learned, and the ways that I’ve grown over 2023. I appreciate y’all for tagging along and being here and taking a look at my work. It means a lot.
Favorites of 2023:
Song:
Justin Vernon — "Hazelton"
This newly released album “Haelton” is Justin Vernon’s haunting pre-Bon Iver LP. The record, an original song titled “Hazelton” and recorded in the mid-2000s for the his third solo album, functioned as the starting point for “Holocene,” the pivotal single from Bon Iver’s second studio album Bon Iver, Bon Iver. I remember listening to the title track for one of the first time when we were on out early morning train ride to Marseille, France. With the sun coming up and cutting through the fog, it was one of my favorite moments listening to music this year. The album is just perfect and it continues to solidifies how Justin is one of my favorite artists and musicians.
Movie:
I saw Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” in theaters and when I tell you there were very few moments where I didn’t have the biggest smile on my face watching this film. What a pleasure this was to watch in theatre’s. Wes keeps getting better and better and I think, visually this is his most bold. With each new release Wes leans more and more into what makes him stand out from the rest of filmmakers today. The respect I have for his commitment to carry out his unique vision is massive. His films and aesthetic may be polarizing to some, but you can’t deny that his style is one of the strongest and most recognizable out of anyone
TV Show:
The Curse is an American satirical black comedy thriller TV series created and written by Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, and starring Emma Stone, Fielder, and Safdie. It’s really hard to describe this show because it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I can’t even express to you how much this show lives in my mind rent free. From the distinct visual look, described by Benny as “realism candid camera: HD at 3200 iso in the world of 4K!” So everything is normally shot extremely far away and really noisy. Here’s a link to a screen test they did that conveys the overall look pretty well. Please go watch this show Fielder and Stone are giving career best perfomances in every single episode. It’s crazy.
Commercial Photo:
This photograph I made of my good friend Sonny, is my favorite commercial photo I made this year. I love this moment so much and another big reason I loive this photo is this is the first commercial set I fully edited with Capture One. With that, I was able to finally nail down a look I’ve been chasing for so long but could never really get with Adobe Camera RAW. The combo of those two things really make this one stand out. Really the whole set from this shoot stands out to me as one of my favorites.
Film Photo:
This photograph is basically an untouched film scan from State Film. It took my breath away when I first got these scans in my email. They nailed it. I really want to print this photograph fairly large. The colors are so gorgeous and the moments we had sitting out on our balcony of our hotel in Marseille are moments I’ll never forget. That place is so special and when I look at this photograph, that same feeling comes rushing right back to me.
Street Photo:
Extremely hard category to nail down, but I chose this one because it’s one of those photos that you take that you never could have dreamed up in your head or anticipated while you’re out. Sometimes a light shines on you and things fall into place. Another funny fact about this is I made this on my M6 with an unbelievably expensive roll of Portra 800. We were out in Paris and we were pretty far from our Airbnb and I was really feeling it and ended up blasting through the roll of Portra 400 pretty quickly, and I left my extra film back at the aparetment. So I quickly Googled film labs near me and found one 100 feet away and picked up one roll of Portra 800 for an absurd price. Luckily I made some of my favorite photos on the street from this trip with that one roll. But I’m so sorry to anyone in Europe that has to pay for those prices, that’s crazy!
Photo of Ariel:
This photo of Ariel I made along with the moment when I made it, is really one of my favorites of the year. We were sitting at our favorite wine bar in Paris, Furia, at our favorite table, on a gorgeous fall evening. What could be better?
Book:
This is a short and easy read, but it certainly is packed with useful conversations from the godfather of street photography. Learned so much from this book of conversations. I read it earlier in the year and it’s probably time to give it another read already.
Moment:
There was something about the city and energy of Marseille that I’ll never forget. Sitting out on these rocks and taking a dip in the crystal clear sea was one of my favorite moments of the year. It was so calm and beautiful that it’s been etched in my brain ever since. I would give anything to experience this exact moment again and again.
Ready for 2024!
Thanks for reading. I hope you had an amazing 2023, and hopefully an even better 2024. Right now I can say I’ve never been happier and so much happened in 2023 and I grew and changed so much (for the better) last year, that I am so excited and hopeful to continue what I started in 2023. Here’s to chasing after being a photographer full time and making the best images of my career this year. This feels like the beginning to a really exciting new chapter.
Much love!