So, the end of another entertaining year and the beginning of what will hopefully be a better one. The last five or six years have been a pretty wild ride haven’t they! They certainly have been in the United States, but also all over the world. As bad as things have been here with ongoing challenges to our democracy, and more it could be much worse. How about waking up every morning in Ukraine, or in Afghanistan, especially if you’re a woman?

What will 2023 bring? Who the hell knows? So, what can we do as individuals? Continue to be aware and be ready to make a difference in any way we can … in small ways or large. Here, the beginning of the 2024 election cycle is about ready to start and already we have the former occupant of the White House running. With any luck, the creep won’t get very far, bogged down in a myriad of legal and other issues.

I’ve written in previous New Year’s entries that we live in strange and challenging times. That hasn’t changed! Along with family, my dog Sparky, and the values and beliefs I hold dear, my photographic life and all the things that are part of it – especially the friends I have made – are what matter most to me. As bad as things have been here in America, our lives are pretty damn good. Just turn on the news and see how much worse things could be! The worst is to sit around and become creatively paralyzed because of all the insanity. Better to think about all there is to be grateful for and get out there and photograph, or do something photographically! I continue to be resolved not to let the bastards get me down, to do what I can to make some kind of difference and continue to “live a photographic life”. That’s what I decided to do in 2022 and I’m rededicating myself to the same in 2023. I mean, really, what choice do I have?

What choices do any of us really have? Well actually we do have choices, but the other ones are useless copouts.  If you became a photo bozo in 2022, weighed down by the all the bad politics, the economy, the damn virus and all the other crap, don’t be one in 2023. Okay?

So there!

Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year filled with creativity, meaning and purpose.

Stay safe,

Michael