2020: Year In Review.

2020 – about that.

When I wrote this yearly recap at the end of 2019, I had a lot of optimism and excitement for the things coming in the new year ahead. Exactly as I planned, the year got off to a great start, but in an instant came to a screeching halt with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic across the entire globe. What resulted for the rest of the year was a surreal time warp of slow-moving chaos, giving us the ultimate test in patience, creativity, resilience, mental capacity, and strength in our relationships. And I had it easy. I am lucky to have made it through with health, livelihood, family, friendships, and art intact. I don’t take any of it for granted, so am taking my usual time before year’s end to reflect on it all.

Above is a gallery of my best work from the roller coaster ride of 2020.

I stumbled my way through my eleventh year as a photographer working in Major League Baseball, and my ninth as the Boston Red Sox team photographer. After a year of big growth personally and as a department in 2019, we reversed course and lost ground this year as a direct result of the pandemic. Access was extremely limited, we reduced the size of our staff, and lost some really fantastic people across the organization who I not only considered coworkers, but friends. We had a tough year on the field, which hardly seemed to matter in comparison to everything else happening across the globe. We played in front of no fans, and the way we operated changed day to day and week to week. I produced the highest quality work I possibly could have under the circumstances, but I have a lot of work to do in 2021 to rebuild our standard of excellence as we return to whatever normal will look like. I am extremely appreciative of the Red Sox organization for valuing photography and content and for supporting us through this challenging year. I am hopeful to see Fenway Park come alive again in 2021.

On the freelance side, business took a hit as it did for most photographers. Still, somehow, it was a busy year, and I’m very grateful for the clients who have worked with me through these difficult times. I am always looking to evolve in this aspect, and among the countless hours of downtime this year, I’ve come to a point of clarity on where I want to go with this side of my career. I’m excited to continue pursuing commercial advertising work, particularly in the sports and lifestyle space, and although it may only be slightly apparent so far in the work above, you will see a shift in the type of imagery I produce and projects I put out in the coming year. This applies for both the still imagery and motion content I am producing.

I’m not someone who does well when there’s nothing going on. Anyone who knows me well knows I have to keep myself busy, so during the height of lockdown, I started a YouTube channel. This is something I’ve always wanted to do but never felt I had the time to actually pull off. It’s been a challenging but also very rewarding project. I’m happy with what I’ve built it into so far, and hope it serves as a resource and helpful point of reference to the photography community. It will be fun to continue to build out the platform and see where it goes in the new year!

Alaina is a hero. She spent the year battling the frontlines of Covid at Massachusetts General Hospital. We are sad to have postponed our wedding until later in 2021, but can’t wait for what’s hopefully a big day to celebrate. One thing is for sure – there’s nobody I would rather quarantine with. This year more than ever, I feel so grateful to have supportive and encouraging people in my life – family, friends, coworkers. Our relationships are more important than ever before.

To you guys, the viewers of this blog and my work, I appreciate your support more than you know. I hope you have a safe, healthy, and prosperous new year!

I am cautiously optimistic for 2021. It will be a challenge, but I love a challenge. The fire is there.