Opportunities (2024 Collection)

January 21 , 2024

As a father of a 1-year old, my windows of photography opportunities are smaller these days. It is much more involved (if even possible) to take specific trips for the slow photography I enjoy doing. That doesn’t mean that I could not continue to practice photography, it just means that I had to adapt and be creative with how I weave it into my life. I quickly realized the most opportune windows (image making, post-processing and writing.) were before the family woke up. This meant a few things: short 1-hour(ish) adventures close to home, multiple revisits to the same location and a lot of patience. So in 2024 I made a conscious effort to take and celebrate the opportunities regardless if the outings yielded images for the portfolio. Getting outside always makes my day better.

Being a first time parent, I have really appreciated those daily moments, the cute smile after my son has his favorite snack, him excitedly saying “mama” when he hears mom coming downstairs and my favorite the “run-and-hug” he gives me as I walk to him. These moments are just as meaningful as the wonderful yearly moments in life (birthdays, holidays, etc.). For me, they’re just as sentimental. They tie together this wonderful world of parenthood. From a photographic perspective, I find many similarities to what I gives me joy when when making images. A lot of my favorite work tends to be vignettes of the landscape and seemingly mundane subjects.

Another goal that naturally developed a few months into the year revolved around curation, processing and connectivity to my own work. In February, my wife had gifted me a critique session with one of my favorite photographers David Thompson. It was one of the most insightful and meaningful photography moments of 2024. He has helped me see my work differently and honestly. I’ve been applying the techniques and thought processes I learned from him to my workflow. My plan moving forward was to hold and spend time with my images from 2024 and release them as one collection divided into seasons. The initial hope was not only to chronologically document the year but to allow time to give myself clarity on the work. When ready to be released, the final product would contain a succinct and meaningful collection that accurately represents my current creative vision.

In the end, 2024 turned out to be a very fulfilling year from a photographic standpoint: 1.) I capitalized on my windows of opportunity. 2.) I continued to dig deeper into my local areas, revisiting locations multiple times. 3.) I allowed time to lead my curation process. As suspected, most of my visits out in the field did not yield work that would make this collection and that was completely fine. After doing the math, the 27 images in my 2024 portfolio account for only 1% of the total frames I shot this year.

Like I mentioned earlier, getting outside always makes my day better. Building relationships with these areas brought me joy. There’s a deeper connection given the investment in their creation from the research, the multiple visits and seeing them in different lighting conditions through the year.

Below are my mementos from the field. Each in their own way nudged me along in my photographic journey. Each were a tiny step towards being a happier human. They showed me the value of maximizing opportunities and to respect time. There’s no cheating time, it is the great equalizer. It brings truth to the questions you have about your work. As I look at the work now, I continue to reflect on the collection and have internal dialogue about future goals and ways to continue growing in 2025.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to take a look. Until next time.
- Marco