2025: highlights in twelve images
Normally around this time of year I do a ‘one for every month’ post. This year is slightly different; there are still twelve images, but for a couple of months it proved impossible to narrow the selection down to a single image. In September alone we visited or passed through six countries!
I’ll also add that this selection is entirely subjective; they are my favourites based on my memories and experience. They are definitely not the best twelve.
Vukovar - September
This image was taken on our Danube cruise in September and October - I wrote about it here. This particular image ticks a number of boxes for me, with the main element being the contrast between the still war-torn building in the foreground and the more recently renovated and rebuilt buildings opposite. The light is also decent, the perspective is natural, the table and chairs add a human element while the flowers add interest and contrast well with the dilapidated building.
Vukovar was the location that, for me, best encapsulated the recent history of the regions we passed through on our Danube cruise and this is an image to which I keep returning.
Tradition dictates that there should be runners up. I’ve selected two images that are both made by the light, but that differ in almost every other respect. The shot of London Eye (written up here) was part of a planned trip and was on a list of target shots that I’d planned ahead of time. This is a new edit, but the key elements of the artificial light in the urban environment, combined with a long exposure, remain.
The second image was, in contrast, a reactive, handheld shot taken on a late afternoon walk up to Emmanuel Head at the back end of November. I’d gone with few expectations, but the light was just lovely. The two people at the beacon help make the image and give it scale; I’m sure a previous me would have simply cloned them out!
As for the rest of the year, the selection below hopefully gives a flavour of where we’ve been and the sights that we’ve seen.
Reflections
Photography gives me three hobbies; the making of images, the appreciation of the imagery of others and, more prosaically, the technology of image making. I think that there’s been progress in 2025 on all three fronts:
Photography. I’m more pleased with the images I’ve taken over the last twelve months than I was at this point last year. The images I’m taking are generally closer in style and approach to the photographs I enjoy looking at and I’m definitely clearer that I’m shooting for my own enjoyment rather than the clicks of strangers. Hopefully others also enjoy the results, but that’s a bonus rather than a purpose.
Equipment. For those with an interest, I recently waffled on at length about my kit choices and changes over the year. The short version is that I’ve offloaded a chunk of kit in the last twelve months and the gear I have feels more purposeful. The indulgence was the M10, which I’m very much enjoying and use more than I’d expected.
Appreciation. I ended last year starting to explore aspects of documentary imaging. Adding to that I’ve been very taken this year with the work of Robert Adams and Stephen Shore, and there’s no doubt at all that this has influenced my approach. I think there will be more words on these aesthetic aspects to come.
As a final observation, 2025 will go down in the ‘plus’ column. We’ve had some great experiences over the year and we already have some plans in place for 2026. We’ll see what the next 12 months brings…
