16. Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Current River

Part 1 of this year’s Best Of, may have ended a bit sour, and granted, those feelings aren’t gone, but I’d rather at least steer the start of this one into another direction. Let’s begin with some artistic and business accomplishments that I had in 2018.

17. Tower Grove South for PFSTL

18. Marine Villa for PFSTL

Years ago, when I was Director of Exhibitions at the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, I began working on an exhibition of the lost and found photographer, Vivian Maier. My curation was to focus on the scope of her work that was not much known at that point, and for it, I travelled to Chicago several times to meet with the only one of her collectors that had acquired the majority of her known prints. The show ran aground when the Institution decided that it could not raise the funds needed in time (these things happen). I was surprised and pleased then, when the Museum announced that it would finally be bringing an exhibition of the photographer’s work to St. Louis. As part of the programming for this, I was invited to give a lecture, which I titled, “On Street Photography, Walking St. Louis and Vivian Maier”. The March 2018 lecture was a pleasure to give, and represented the largest audience that I have spoken to yet (over 50). If you are interested in hearing/watching this, the video can be purchased here.

19. Bristlecone Pines, Mt. Goliath Natural Area, Colorado

20. Castor River Shut-Ins

After selling off my camera equipment over the Summer, I decided to apply for an Artist Support Grant from the Regional Arts Commission, which could be applied to for up to $3000. The notification of awards was in November, and I was surprised and overjoyed to have been selected. This award came at a particularly dark moment for me, and without it, 2018 may have been my last year as a photographer (or even in the arts at all). I cannot say thanks enough to this Organization, who’s contributions to the arts and artists in St. Louis enables such a richness and diversity of expression to exist.

Also in November, an exhibition of work by PFSTL opened at the Olivette Community Center, which I co-curated with PFSTL Assistant Director, Ann Aurbach. Its focus is on the Streets of St. Louis segment that the organization launched earlier this year, under the management of Dave Adams, PFSTL’s new Co-Author. This show is up through December 29th, so stop by if you can.

21. Phantom Forest Conservation Area

22. Mt. Evans Scenic Byway, Colorado

Nature and outdoor photography has always been a significant part of my “Best of” year end posts, but you may have noticed that this year it features in even more. You might also notice that people factor in much less. With the stresses described in post one, I’ve increasingly turned toward photographing places of isolation and contemplation, though not consciously. I think that my mind just needed some space, and that has shown up in this year’s images. It will be interesting to see if that changes with the new camera equipment (new gear always generates an excitement to shoot more).

That said, I’ve also been exploring more, especially to Missouri’s Conservation Areas, which I had previously not much visited. What a reward! It remains to be seen, but a friend and I have been toying with the idea of launching a new project that deals specifically with outdoor adventure photography across the country. If that comes to fruition, expect an update here first!

me fording a Ozark stream with a product for photography safely wrapped up on my back, photo by Isaac Richardson

23. Isaac Richardson setting up a shot, Hickory Canyons Conservation Area

24. River Des Peres

25. Hickory Canyons Conservation Area

26. Alley Spring Mill

Speaking of the outdoors, the family took a camping trip in October to the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, a National Park in Missouri. “Ozark” for short, the Park was the first federally protected river system in the country, and is one of the world’s largest collections of first magnitude springs. This was a much needed reprieve, and was a lot of fun for the whole family, including our new pup, Kaia.

my boys drawing around the campfire

Kaia in camp. She was Harper’s much anticipated birthday present this year.

my wife Mandi at Outdoor Retailer, Colorado

For KAMP, we were able to travel to Denver for Outdoor Retailer. This was a great opportunity for us to meet our vendors in-person, see what is on the horizon in terms of the Outdoor Industry, and line up new contacts. It was also a lot of fun! I like to say that a day at OR starts as all business, but ends as all party. We even had a day to hike in the Rockies, which is where the Colorado images in these posts come from.

27. Washington Avenue for PFSTL

28. The Patch

29. Clyfford Still Museum, Denver

Another bit of exciting news to report is that I have begun working on a book project that will use my images (exclusively) with a well known publisher. The work will wrap up in 2019, and we are looking at a publication date in 2020. That said, it is too early to reveal any more details, but I’ll be sharing those as soon as I can.

30. The Greater Ville, for PFSTL

31. North Riverfront, for PFSTL

32. Emmenegger Nature Park

33. LaBarque Creek Conservation Area