Panalu’u Beach, Hawaii
2019 closed out as my best year to date, both professional and personally.
My photography work took me all over the country from the Big Island of Hawaii to New Haven, Connecticut and dozens of places in between.
In the fall I partnered with my good friend and painter, Kristen Moore, to host a pop-up art show where we packed the venue with friends and family - and sold a lot of art!
In looking through my photography catalogue for 2019, I selected one defining photograph of the year: “Meditation” - The Big Island of Hawaii
This daytime long exposure was taken while I meditated on the black sands of Punalu’u Beach.
I composed the horizon down the middle, separating the ocean and sky into equal parts. I triggered the shutter and the waves blurred through time as my thoughts sunk to pure stillness.
When my meditation was done, I closed the shutter and opened my eyes to this photograph. It would be the only exposure I captured that day and the one that ultimately defined that trip and 2019 for me.
It may not be my best photograph of the year, the most challenging capture, the most technical, or even the most liked on social media (whatever that means), but it is the most meaningful to me.
I went to the Big Island to work on myself, to focus on my mental health, to meditate and practice my craft.
I was there only for me. I created work only for myself. I stepped out of my life to work on my life.
It was very healing.
2020
In looking forward to this year I have big goals for my work.
Kicking off tomorrow, I have an “Intentions” tea ceremony in an all glass tree house in Boulder, Colorado. Here are some of my intentions I will share:
For the first time my prints will be available to purchase directly on my website. I will be launching the new platform soon.
There will be more exhibits, with three shows currently in the planning phase. I wish I could share more, but I can’t - stay tuned...
This summer, Liz and I will be traveling to Serengeti, Tarangire, and Tanzania. I have big photography plans for this African adventure – a vision of a different kind of wildlife photography.
Once again, I will be traveling with my architectural photographer colleagues from Minnesota (and one from Toronto) to Edmonton, Canada to document the Mid-Century architecture of that city.
We are doing something new this year that will surely gather some press. We are excited!
In the fall Liz and I will be moving into our new home in Silverthorne, Colorado. We are currently building a modern mountain house in a community called Summit Sky Ranch. We plan on splitting our time between Denver and Summit County.
The year is already filling in nicely and I am very excited about it. I look forward to connecting with you along the way.
JC
PS – If you’re not already, please connect and follow my work on Instagram and Twitter. For those of you obsessed with mood boards and “pins” my interior print installs are on Pinterest too! Also, If you haven’t read my last post, “Kill your Phone,” give it a read. My new approach to my smart phone has been a total game changer. Happy New Year!
#2020VISION