The final section of my annual year in review post is always a tad bitter-sweet. I enjoy pouring over all the work that I’ve done in a year, because it can be difficult to (watch out for the big cliché) see the forest for the trees. As usual, an incredible amount of images have been made this year. Around 190,000, in fact. Again, my most used lens was the Nikkor 58mm f/1.4. Also, not surprisingly, I’m now shooting about 50% of my work with the Fujifilm X system. The release of the X-T2 has made the system so much easier to use, and almost on par with the performance of the D750.
October started with a wonderful session with Miranda and Michele. We worked our way around the city from their hostel in Dongdaemun, hitting up Changgyeonggung for some traditional architecture, then Cheonggyecheon for the modern side of Seoul, before winding up our session on the subway for a little fun. We had the most perfect day for them to be visiting Seoul, and we made great use of it. Thank you guys for such a fun afternoon!
Following this, I had the honour of working with a delegation of Korean War veterans who were visiting to pay their respects. Over the course of 4 days, we visited memorials in both Seoul and Busan, held several ceremonies, and even visited the DMZ to overlook the sites that the Australian veterans had held during the war. On the final day, I set up a studio and made some formal portraits as my way of saying thank you to the people who fought to ensure Korea would be what it is today. It is because of these men that I am able to write this blog, live where I do, and have the life I do with my wife. Lest we forget. The full set can be seen here.
A couple of family sessions to finish up the Autumn this year were next up, including the Elbracht family, who I worked with last year. Although the leaves were a little lackluster this year, we still managed some nice colours and some of the most beautiful light I’ve seen in Seoul for a while.
Then is was on to a few personal sessions as I had a few spare days in between shoots. Marco Devon and I hit the streets to work on our Gentlemen of Jongno series for a couple more afternoons, and I jumped into the middle of the anti-government protests here to make portraits of those gathered to show their support. What amazed me most was the breadth of the demographic that made their appearance. It was quite impressive. After that, myself and a model friend Christine made our way out into the freezing winter streets of Seoul to make some portraits in hanbok.
Finally, I had another family session with the Grijalva family before heading over to Myanmar again to run a workshop as part of our Kickstarter campaign from earlier in the year and deliver the books to various outlets and villagers. I am glad to say that my books are now available through Myanmar Book Centre, at Yangon Airport, in various hotels and villages in Mrauk U, through Htwe Kyi in Mrauk U, and at Rangoon Tea House. If you’re in Myanmar, please pick up a copy and help me support the Lai Tu people. I not, grab one from my site!
Until next year, I hope you are all happy and healthy. Take care!