How to make an exhibition. A Wild Women celebration. Image by Becky Wood

THE STORY DETAILS:

What: My very own story

When: January - December 2023

Where: All over the place!

What a flippin’ year!…

My 2023 photography reflections

How to tell the story of my 2023 photography journey? Through images, of course. I sat down with a blank piece of paper to sketch out my top ten photography moments this year, and I don’t think it is a coincidence that this countdown runs almost perfectly in chronological order. The year started at walking pace and has ended at full pelt; I’ve gone from working (technically) two days a week in January to four days a week from September, and in reality a lot of weekend working too. A bit more balance is required for 2024, but I am thriving and I love this job that allows me to be creative and to collaborate with clients, artists and mothers. My word for the year was ‘grow’, with the sub-headings ‘business’, ‘professional network and friends’, and ‘as a person’. I have done so much growing. This is a story of community, sisterhood, and how we all win when we commit to lifting each other up and cheering each other on unreservedly.

My top ten 2023 photography moments

10. Wild Women 1

January 2023. The first Wild Women happened on a cold and very wet January day. I had to change the day because of train strikes. Two women couldn’t attend on the day because of sick children. It wasn’t an auspicious start. And yet, something magic happened. 8 women gathered, talked, ate pastries, and then walked to a studio round the corner and just played. Creative play, gentle encouragement, and a slow unwinding of inhibitions and imposter fears. I knew we were onto something special. Read more here.

Me popping up from behind the sofa at Wild Women 1. Image by Sophie Askew

**9. A one shot wonder - Emma, Wild Women 2**
February 2023. Yes, another Wild Women event but not the win you might be expecting. An immediate sell out, and a second date added for a workshop at the most beautiful plant filled studio, Clapton Tram. Two glorious days, 20 amazing women. But for me, a personal win - seeing a shot in my head, setting it up, and getting the desired result on the first go. I laughed when I saw the back of the camera, and Emma didn’t get to lounge in the chair for as long as she thought she would! A moment when I thought ‘maybe I do know what I’m doing, after all’.

8. Amelia and Kim motherhood shoots at Lite Studio

March 2023. Mother’s Day celebration shoots at Lite Studio with Amelia and Kim. All the shoots that day were dreamy, but these two shots live long for me - mothers, secure in their power. The images speak for themselves.

7. Snap - Freedom

April 2023, and a big step for me, attending Snap, a three day photography conference/retreat with 45 other photographers. I don’t enjoy stepping into big groups of people, especially when I don’t know many people. I had also experienced a couple of jarring moments earlier in the month; conversations about photography and community that hadn’t sat well with me, and that I instinctively knew didn’t work for me. It is fair to say that my experience at Snap was transformative, and I left feeling that I could step back from the way I was perceiving things ‘should’ be done - informed mostly by a social media world that we all know is smoke and mirrors - and instead follow my instincts and go my own way. And of course, I got to cement some friendships that have become very important to me.

**6. Peer approval - Shani’s maternity shoot and Hannah’s family beach shoot**
May/August 2023. If you’re reading this as a photographer, you will know that there is nothing more validating/terrifying than being booked for a shoot with another photographer. On one hand, you think ‘I must be doing something right!’ and on the other ‘but what if they spot all my mistakes in their gallery?!?!’ Reader, I can tell you now that I burst into tears when Hannah upgraded to the full gallery after her family beach shoot, and I also burst into tears when I read what Shani wrote about our maternity shoot in the Wild Women Magazine. I work hard to please clients, but knowing that two of my peers treasured their images felt very validating. Definitely moments to hold onto this year.

5. Dark Bloom Collective branding shoot
June 2023. A homemade garden studio full of dried flowers and art and taxidermy, with the quiet powerhouse Esme at the heart of it. A totally ordinary yet completely extraordinary shoot where I saw the effect of being seen come to life, filled with big conversations and small yet transformative shifts in thinking. I hope all my 2024 branding shoots can be just like this.

Fields Photography London- Esme sm-2.jpg

Fields Photography London- Esme sm-1.jpg

**4. What a difference (some) years make - Respair**

December 2023. I first shot Respair back in February 2020. It was my last shoot before flying out to Australia and then the world closing down. I felt so free in that shoot - I was planning to leave teaching when we returned from Australia, and the band had let me be as creative as I wanted to be during the session. I was proud of the work I produced then, and in fact it is dotted all over this website. Fast forward a few years, and I was back with the band in a beautiful studio and capturing some behind the scenes shots as they recorded a live track. I felt the difference in them, and me, between those few years; how we’ve all grown in our respective creativity and know ourselves more, the confidence that comes through our work.

**3. Wild Women 4 - Esme in the morning light**

October 2023. There are a multitude of images I could share from the most recent workshop, but this is the one that speaks to me; Esme, in the autumnal morning light, working on her dried floral installation. I was sat on the floor with a cup of tea, my husband talking with Esme about her work. Behind me, two of my closest friends were quietly busying themselves unpacking things and steaming clothes to help me prep. It was calm, the light was beautiful, I felt supported and I just knew it was going to be a special day. It wasn’t just me who felt it; Esme wrote about it in her magazine feature. I know you shouldn’t have favourites but this workshop just felt so right.

**2. Finding a work wife**

I’ve had some cracking work wives over the years (and one particularly good work husband, too), but I didn’t expect to find one in photography - not least because I don’t spend very much time in an office with anyone these days. The key to finding a work life partner is matching energy - your dreams and values need to align, and much like marriage, you have to be prepared to pick up the slack and be the lead partner sometimes for the greater good. It might have been when Becky delivered this video and basically did my Wild Women marketing for me for a good six months, or when she put weekly online blog club meetings until forever in my Google diary for me that I knew I had found The One, but either way she seems to be here to stay. Accountability buddies might seem boring but they work! I would never write a blog post without her making me do it, but she makes me laugh too and there is no denying her energy is infectious. Highly recommend finding your One, but you can’t have Becky because she’s mine. And she’s pretty good with a camera too - she took this image on our recent branding shoot.

1.Wild Women Celebration

I’ve got to the end and know there’s more moments and thoughts that could have made this list - my ongoing project with Mamma Swim, how looking after myself with my gym accountability buddy has led me to better habits in my self employed life and a new friendship, how old pals have supported my journey transitioning into a new career, or how I will now unreservedly take self portraits with a ribbon wrapped round my face thanks to Emily and her creative encouragement.

But we all know there is only one way to end this countdown, and that is with the Wild Women Celebration event. Lots of things from my teaching career have stuck with me (there’s a blog series coming, don’t worry) but this event came straight from the classroom - what is the point of making and creating something if you don’t show it off? The scale of it doesn’t matter, but sharing - whether in a classroom concert to your peers of the music you have made or a performance at the Royal Albert Hall in front of thousands - is a celebration of the act of creating and practising and making something that is yours. And so what was the point of all these incredible women coming together at the workshops if their work didn’t get seen? I knew I had to make an event where I could help all the Wild Women show off and celebrate their own individual journeys, because we just don’t do it enough for ourselves.

All event photos by Becky Wood

The evening itself was more special than I could have known; 24 women showcasing their work (and many in attendance to see it!), Meg Khan delivering an impassioned talk about the importance of being seen, taking up space and just saying yes, and even a prize raffle made up of donations from members of the Wild Women community. Oh, and the digital exhibition guide became the first ever Wild Women Magazine, so all these achievements can live on in print. We outdid ourselves. I owe so much to Lizzie, Emily, Becky and Amanda (a work wife from a previous life!) for helping me make the exhibition happen. This community has become very special to me (and to many of you, I know now) and this event was also a way of saying thank you for pushing me on to be better, too - in business, in professional networks and friendships, as a person. If 2024 is anything like 2023, we’re in for a ride and I cannot wait!

Until New Year friends… have a good break!