I still remember being 12 years old and wanting to be a journalist. My father told me I should join the school newspaper club. So there I stood, shy as could be, at the first meeting of the new school year. The editor-in-chief (if you can call her that at a school paper without real editors rolling on the floor laughing) suggested I write an article about "My First Day at High School." I turned bright red and said I was already in seventh grade.
Now I'm grown up, and such things don't bother me. I write what I want. Well, I do try to be polite because the world is rude enough already. But I do dig into social issues sometimes like a particularly persistent dentist. Body positivity, for example, or discrimination against nude photographers like myself. The topic of censorship in the Western world also keeps getting under my skin, probably because as an artist I like to photograph what others find scandalous while I find it beautiful.
But most of all, I take you along on my journey as a photographer. Sometimes it's glamorous, sometimes it's marked by worry about the future. Because times have changed. With OnlyFans and the collapse of print media, my job has become something different. It's like being a coachman when suddenly everyone drives cars, except at least the coachman still has the romance of the good old days going for him.
I need other sources of income, and I'm still fighting for artistic recognition. But who isn't?
Ten years ago I was a tender 40 years old. That sounds today like I was practically a toddler back then. I still had a few more hairs on my head (though "a few more" is a very optimistic way of putting it) and still drank beer. Now I live much more healthily, I'm physically fitter, and I have a clearer vision of where my journey as an artist should go. That's the beautiful thing about getting older: you gain more confidence and a clearer understanding.
I promise you that I'll continue to authentically report from my life once a week. Sometimes entertaining, sometimes serious, sometimes probably confusing too, but that's life itself. Always with topics you won't find in other photography blogs quite like this. I think I've found a pretty good niche. It lies somewhere between "too personal for tech nerds" and "too ad-free for lifestyle bloggers".