So that was not just the end of another year but the end of a decade – and what a decade it’s been. In the past ten years our political, economic and environmental landscape has changed beyond recognition. In 2010 Boris Johnson was ‘just’ the mayor of London and preparing that city for the Olympics in 2012. Anyone who had heard of Donald Trump was probably either a fan of The Apprentice or had taken a stroll past the garish Trump Tower on New York’s Fifth Avenue. Greta Thunberg was a seven year old Swedish girl who was soon to start learning about climate change and David Cameron, who had been leader of the UK Conservative party for five years, would soon become prime minister, a post he would resign from six years later having initiated a referendum to leave the EU that would subsequently tear the country apart.

The latter event is probably a good place to start with my photographic review of 2019 therefore (and sums up my view of Brexit in case you’d not realised it).

According to this article in The Guardian a good way to spend New Year’s Day is taking a walk over Dartmoor and visiting Wistmans Wood, a place I went to in May.

This year I’ve been trying my hand at some dance photography and have worked with a number dancers who have been patient with me while I created lots of blurred and out of focus images. Here are some images that worked.

In March I went on my last business trip with my employer of over 30 years, to Athens, and took a walk around Anafiotika.

The view from the business lounge on the top floor of the hotel I stayed in was pretty spectacular as well.

I had a couple of outside portrait sessions in an area of Birmingham called Digbeth which is now famous for its street art as well as its canals. Here’s Dan and Kym on one of my street shoots.

Whilst talking about my home city of Birmingham, at the beginning of the year we were visited by the amazing Knife Angel.

In September I shot the fashion show for this years Zimbabwe Fashion Showcase event at Tramp nightclub in London (a lighting nightmare). This stunning wedding dress was one of the many amazing outfits being shown there…

.. and here’s Ben Ofoedu and Jermaine Jones, two of the entertainers at the fashion show.

I’d also show some of their publicity images prior to the event.

From a gear point of view this year I invested in some Fujifilm equipment (Fujifilm X-T3 with a range of lenses) and have been trying out the Godox V1 flashlights.

I also did a number of individual portrait shoots, a small selection of which are here (click an image to get a larger version).

Landscapes and cityscapes were a bit thin on the ground for me this year but here are a few I did manage to capture.

Finally I met this little chap.

Happy New Year.

birmingham cityscape devon landscape portrait portrait photography street art street photography year in review