2025 in Review 🎆🎞️
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Earlier this year I declared that this would be the year that everything changes. During the past twelve months, I’ve learned that I was right, though certainly not in the ways I expected.
It has been a creatively frustrating year, though admittedly quite rewarding in many ways as well, despite the creative obstacles in my path. I have stretched my breadth as a photographer and filmmaker, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunities this year to grow my abilities further. In truth, I am still a beginner, and I am so grateful to be learning more and more all the time.
There is so much that I wish I had shared with the world over this past year, but I am proud of the work that I have. With each new roll of film I develop, I see my creative muscles grow and mend. From working on set to photoshoots with friends, my photography skills have expanded, revealing strengths and challenges where I didn’t expect. I can’t wait to see what more 2026 has in store for me. Bigger things are ahead, I can feel it!
In the meantime, enjoy some highlights from this year that haven’t been seen before 😉
📸: Olympus OM-1 & Minolta SRT102
🎞️: Various
Developed by @nycfilmlab
This has been one of the hardest years of my life so far. Not because of overwhelming change, but rather ironically, the lack of it. This past year has been full of big swings, bigger misses, and above all, a lot of personal growth that has been sorely needed. The trouble is, for all the changes happening in my life day in and day out, I don’t feel like it has been enough.
One thing to know about me is that I hold exceptionally high standards for myself, that much has been true for my whole life. And it frustrates me when I fail to live up to those standards or expectations, when I let myself down. I know the potential I hold and the power I have to control the direction in which I live my own life and pursue my passions, though lately it feels as though I’ve given up so much of that control to factors out of my reach. I make excuses, I compromise, and I give in to rash impulses that set me back instead of propel me forward. Our time on this earth is the most precious resource we hold, and I can no longer afford to misuse this wonderful gift we are given.
I hope this doesn’t sound too self-deprecating for an end-of-year post. In reality, though I am hard on myself, I am so proud of what I’ve accomplished this year. I sprained my ankle at the top of the year and STILL trained to run a half marathon! I worked as a production assistant on two short films this year and met so many wonderful people that I already treasure dearly (you know who you are). Hell, l shot a film on Super 8 that premiered at the Museum of freaking Modern Art!!! Big moves were made this year, people. But we can go bigger.
Next year I turn 30. Oh boy - we’ll get to that soon enough. With that on the horizon, I’ve been having all kinds of feelings about not being in the right place in life for my age. I think that much is obvious. But for as much as I focus on the little things that piss me off and cause me to blow up, I’m doing my best to focus more on the little things that make me smile, because they really do bring light to my heart in a way I can’t quite describe. And those are the things I wanted to share with you here at the end of 2025. Thanks so much for hanging in there with me ❤️
Merry Christmas 🎄 🎞️
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A different kind of Christmas this year.
I may not have gotten to spend Christmas at home in Alaska with my family, but that doesn’t mean my holiday season hasn’t been filled with enough love to warm these cold winter days. Special thanks to my friend Milton and his wonderful family for taking me into their home this year ❤️
This was the last photo I took during my trip home last Christmas. I set up a tripod in my family’s living room and let my camera do its thing. I had no idea if the photo would turn out how I wanted, or even at all, and yet I was stunned by how beautifully it captured our family’s Christmas tree, the very same I’ve been putting together for all my life.
In case you’re wondering - yes, it’s an artificial tree. You got a problem with that? Too bad. A plastic tree has a certain charm to it, they’re a one-time purchase you don’t have to make year after year, and, best of all, so long as you take care of it (and know where to store it), they can last you a lifetime.
I finally got a tree for myself last year, and setting it up each December brings back all those feelings I got as a kid, pulling out each strand of garland, string lights, ornaments, the works. If you’re slick, maybe you can stuff them all in the same box 😉
Merry Christmas, Everyone! 🎄 Hope your holiday has been spent with loved ones, eating good food and making wonderful memories ❤️
📸: Olympus OM-1
🎞️: Kodak Gold 200 (exp)
Developed by @nycfilmlab
The Williamsburg 🌁🎞️
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Somehow, after living in this city for four years, I seem to have found a favorite bridge. I can’t stay away from it; over the past few years I’ve found myself continuously pulled to the Williamsburg Bridge, through half marathon training, to daily train commutes, to one fateful summer job on the East River. For my time as a New Yorker, the Williamsburg Bridge has seen me through my many phases of life in my new home.
Today marks the 122nd anniversary of the Williamsburg Bridge’s completion. In 1903, New York City became home to the longest suspension bridge in the world (at that time), and the one bridge I seem to enjoy spending so much of my time around 🌉❤️
Which photo do you like better? Black & White or Color?
📷: Olympus OM-1
🎞️: Kodak TMAX 100 & Kodak 200 Color Plus
Developed by @nycfilmlab
Took myself out on a date yesterday and maybe had a little too much fun 😏
Had myself a massage, a nice dinner and a Broadway show after this -- how can you expect someone else to take care of you if you don’t take care of yourself first!?
(SOUND ON)
Season of Change 🍂🎞️
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Summer snuck away almost as quickly as it arrived. I’ve been busy. I’ve been lazy. I’ve kept myself active both for better and for worse, but most of all I survived another Change of the seasons and lived to tell about it.
Change is something I’ve always had a tenuous relationship with, in all aspects of life. Despite the way I might bitch and groan at the shifting times, I don’t inherently hate Change. I dislike Change without purpose, without clarity, without reason, but on the whole I recognize that Change can be an overall good for ourselves and for the world.
Living in New York for almost 4 years now, Change has become a wave that I’ve grown quite accustomed to riding. It’s not a skill I’m particularly good at, or comfortable with, at that, but I suppose it’s merely a matter of time before that Changes too. Life is constantly surprising me, and it has been a great source of joy (and utter bewilderment) learning how to deal with each new twist along the way.
So while the temperatures grow colder and the leaves on the trees begin to Change color, I can’t help but feel a bit reflective on all the months that I’ve somehow survived thus far. What waits around the next corner?
Changes abound. Are you ready? I know I am.
📸:Olympus OM-1
🎞️: Fujichrome Provia 100F
Sunrise on the City 🌆🌻🎞️
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My mom turns 65 today!
I had the pleasure of hosting my parents over my birthday week earlier this month, and we got to share a precious few days in the city together. With a tight schedule and not much wiggle room, it can sometimes be stressful to have family in town, but always worth it in the end.
Sometimes my mom pushes me to do things I wouldn’t normally do while she’s visiting, like waking up to watch the sunrise from a downtown skyscraper rooftop. We woke up extra early on their last day in town and watched the sun ascend from the muggy city horizon, shining its light over the denizens of this crazy place I now call home. It was a special moment that I’m glad I got to share with my mom one last time before parting ways with my parents at the airport, until the next time one of us makes the long journey across the continent.
I was fortunate enough to get to spend my birthday with my mom, however I’m not so lucky to have to spend her birthday over here on the East Coast. So to her I dedicate these words and this special memory. Love you, mom!❤️ Happy Birthday 🎉
📷: Olympus OM-1
🎞️: Kodak 200 Color Plus
Developed by @nycfilmlab
Island of Misfit Toys 🚗🎞️
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Sometimes Art just needs to speak for itself.
I take hundreds of photos each month, between a number of different cameras on hand - my phone, my film cameras, my Canon DSLR, the half-frame film camera that feels like a drug to shoot off a million pics in one go, and even my baby Olympus digital camera that I’ve had with me since I was 9 years old. Admittedly it can be a nightmare after going out with friends or to a concert, etc, and having to sort through all the photos I took at a particular event across all my many devices. I like to call it “resource management.”
It may not be efficient, but it gets the job done, and it creates different memories for different people. Some pictures turn out better than others, and some may mean more to me than to others. That doesn’t mean they’re not worth sharing, though. A memory is a memory, good or bad, or even ugly.
I took this photo in April, as I was tracing the route of my half marathon a few days before my race. I was struck by the sheer amount of children’s toys (particularly plastic cars and bikes) that were scattered around this apartment courtyard, and it looked as though dozens of kids had been raptured away in the middle of playtime. What does that mean, I can’t say, but the visual was striking enough for me to want to take this photograph, and even though it might not look like much to a casual observer, I’m actually quite proud of this photo.
So, despite all that I’ve said just now, I’m going to let this photograph stand on its own, and you can make of it what you will. Thanks for enjoying my Art.
📸: Olympus OM-1
🎞️: Kodak Gold 200
Developed by @nycfilmlab
