2025: A Year of Re-orientation

2025 wasn’t a loud year. It didn’t look productive from the outside, and it definitely didn’t follow any neat plan. It felt frustratingly unproductive. My youngest baby is no longer a baby but a toddler now — and that alone keeps shaping everything. Time is fragmented, energy comes in waves, and work has to fit into the small spaces that remain. I didn’t suddenly “get my time back,”.

But something important shifted.

This year was less about output and more about orientation. About understanding where I am in my work — and where I’m going next.

Looking back, I can see clear phases in my photography journey.

First came a phase of strong intuition and creativity, with very little technical skill. Then came the opposite: a long, intense technical phase. Precision, control, learning the rules. During that period, creativity didn’t just quiet down — it almost disappeared. Everything was measured, corrected, refined. Necessary, but limiting.

Now, at the very end of 2025 — almost 2026 — I can feel the next phase approaching.

I’m not there yet. But I can see it clearly.

The next step is learning how to hold both: strong technical skill and real creative freedom at the same time. Not by adding more structure or discipline, but by letting go of constant control. By trusting that the technical foundation is already there — and allowing creativity to return on top of it.

This year wasn’t about achieving that balance. It was about recognising it as my direction.

2025 taught me patience — with time, with motherhood, and with my own process. It reminded me that not every year is about growth you can point to. Some years are about re-alignment. About preparing the ground.

I’m stepping into 2026 with a clear sense of direction.

Time to loosen the grip.
Time to let creativity come back.
Time to trust what’s already there.