The 2025 wind-down has begun. My inbox is flooded with recaps, best of lists, and looks back on the year. I think it’s a good thing to reflect on the year, take stock, and set intentions for the coming one. I’ll be sharing my own recap next week.
My initial goal for this newsletter was twofold: challenge myself to write and publish weekly for a year (we’re almost there) and share my work with an audience in a way and on a platform that functions differently than a website or Instagram feed. Thanks to your collective support, the newsletter now has more than 500 subscribers.
While the discipline of publishing weekly has kept me in check, in all honesty, what I’m writing/sharing/publishing often lacks the depth I wish it had. Part of that is laziness. I get energized by an idea or begin to pull on a thread of something and then I get distracted, overwhelmed, or develop too much attachment to a specific outcome. More often than not, it’s laziness.
I value your time (and mine). And creativity takes time and all manner of resources. One thing I’m committing to in the new year is being more intentional with my creativity, time, and resources while also remaining open to whatever creative sparks happen to ignite. In practical terms, that’ll mean changing the frequency of publishing this newsletter to probably every other week at most. It was also mean writing more about personal projects and sharing new work here.
Do you set resolutions or intentions for the new year? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.
I’ve been reading Sally Mann’s latest book, Art Work: On the Creative Life. I picked up a signed copy while I was in Santa Fe from photo-eye (along with the new [signed] Robert Adams book from Steidl, Words That Helped and House Hunting from Todd Hido).
I’m only about a third of the way through it, but I already recommend it. Consider buying it from your local bookseller or from an independent online dealer like Bookshop.org.
I recently worked with the Wall Street Journal on an assignment in McDowell County, West Virginia. I’m proud of this work and appreciate the trust Chase had in me to make pictures for Dan’s article. You can read it here, but probably steer clear of the comments.
Thanks to Rich-Joseph Facun for always being willing to pick up the phone and catch up on life, talk about making photographs, and riffing on the creative process. You should buy his books.
Thanks to Noah Kalina for entertaining my Epson P900 printer questions. You should join his Patreon.
Thanks for reading, sharing, and subscribing.
- Roger
Thanks for the shoutout my friend! Here’s to closing one door and opening another. I’m always down to chop it up, like they used to say, “Let your fingers do the walking.” Til then keep on keepin’ on.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, let's all hope 2026 gets a bit more sane.
I understand your thoughts on less posts but I think what you post is excellent and I look forward to each one. Thanks for the link to the Wall Street Journal article on McDowell County. Sad conditions, but heck West Virginians are hard workers and resilient. I'd love to see the county a shining star of the state as it once was.
I often wonder if Kennedy did our state any real favor instituting welfare programs, it seems it created a reliance and a multigenerational thing for many. On a trip to Shepherdstown recently I found a book, "The Best Of Hillbilly", a collection of wise and witty writing from Jim Comstock's The Hillbilly Reporter of yesterday. Comstock said the people of West Virginia didn't know they were poor and living in poverty until Kennedy came and told them so. Perhaps the better help would have been getting diversified manufacturing for the state, he did help spread some money in the form of $500,000 to buy votes. Comstock relates some funny stories of how people sold their vote as well of about how people would do some work and paid "under the table" so they wouldn't lose their benefits. I'm certainly not bashing benefits, and help where help is due but I have to wonder, from the article, there was some really major money dumped into the area and one just has to wonder where it all went.
I once had some real estate dealings with a major politician from the coal fields, he retired and moved out of state which shocked me. I asked him why would he leave a state that made him incredibly rich and his answer was, "If the people ever figure out how bad we've screwed them, they will come after us all." That's not just in WV but nationwide, so much money gets allocated and ends up in the pockets of a few instead of helping those in need.