My Year in Photos { film edition } and why slowing down at the end of the decade was the perfect way to ring in the new one

Toronto real life documentary photographer

I ended 2019 not by making endless lists of favourite things, or figuring out my top nine Instagram photos or really reflecting on the past decade at all; instead I spent the last couple of weeks of the decade zoned in (or you could say zoned out) living through the hours and days that lingered up to 2020. I hardly took any photos (well, by my standards), I didn’t plan out every single thing I wanted to accomplish in the year ahead and, most surprisingly, I didn’t feel guilty about any of it. I’m a known planner. I like the task of planning. The joy of knowing what I’m doing or remembering or planning to do. But for the first time in a long time, I decided to wait until AFTER the year ended to start on my year ahead. And it gave my brain space to breathe. To see how slow days can be joyful days. To sit down and enjoy TWO MOVIES IN ONE DAY (if you know me, you will know how shocking this is).

And so, here I am, two-ish weeks in the new decade and only now feeling like sharing some of my personal faves from the past year. Zero degrees of guilt. Slow living at its finest.

I couldn’t narrow down my favourites into one post. I just couldn’t. And so these are my favourite film photos from 2019 — my first full year back to the beautiful world of analog film in nearly 20 years. Some of these images I love because I shot and developed them myself. Some because I tried new cameras and new film types. Some because I’m actually in the photo. But mostly I love them because they weren’t trying to be something for anyone other than for me. They will mean something in a year. Five years. Twenty five years. And that’s enough reason for me.

Enjoy.

xx