2019 - REVIEW
Today is December 31, 2019. Tomorrow is January 1, 2020. The end of a decade. I could write about the last 10 years and how profound this decade has been, but that would be a memoir heavy enough for paper. So, I’ll sharpen the focus to the last 365 days, let me set the scene like a screenplay.
INT. KITCHEN - HOME - MORNING
Rain drops pelt the exterior windows as Clay, disheveled and unshaven, leans over the bright light of a laptop on his kitchen counter. He takes a sip off hot coffee and begins to type frantically on the keypad. He stops to pause, holding his head with his hands.
I usually begin every yearly review with some form of philosophical analogy such as a series of words, a roller coaster or a choose your own adventure book. But, this year just doesn’t deserve a deep metaphor or long-form explanation. While I’m in a different place, this feeling of personal theater seems all to familiar.
2019 was a fight. It started out with a professional hook to the body and later a personal uppercut to the face which knocked me down for a 10 count. While I managed to crawl to my corner, I haven’t yet had a absolute awakening or a physical rebirth that generally comes with a knockdown. At the moment, I’m in a daze, doing my best to focus, to get back on my two feet and prepare to hit back. Over the course of the last 12 months, I was met with colossal challenges in finance, health, heartbreak and loss. Each blow was significant, every struggle was more severe than the last, only to be left in the corner with a cold-press to my check and a splash of cold water with the sound of the bell.
While 2019 ended in the losing corner broken-down and bruised, the good memories tend to overpower the bad through my brain like a blistered old stop motion film, activating my nervous system to beam a smile.
We photographed John Peterman, the gentleman-retailer famously satirized on “Seinfeld,” for The Wall Street Journal.
We successfully wrapped a series of lifestyle and portrait photography for Samtec, a service leader in the electronic interconnect industry with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities all over the world. This project took us to Costa Rica, Singapore and Malaysia.
We photographed celebrity and Instagram sensation(16 Million Followers) KJ Apa, for a new collaboration and brand activation for Fossil and Crosely Records.
We developed a plug-in-play treatment, which will be used to create bids and pitch decks for advertising leads, saving hours of design time.
We successfully wrapped a summer series of lifestyle and portrait photography for Kentucky Tourism, which took us to over 25 cities in Kentucky photographing various cities, musicians, chefs and master distillers.
In partnership with Waterboys, we successfully wrapped another trip to Tanzania, Africa with with NBA athletes Malcolm Brogdon, Joe Harris and Justin Anderson support of the mission of clean water. Waterboys has now served over 350,000 people in East Africa.
I photographed a series of personal work entitled “Na Kisima” which highlighted Maasai women in Tanzania, Africa.
We successfully wrapped a brand new Fstoppers tutorial which will feature some of the best instructors in the education business.
We successfully wrapped 2019 advertising for Louisiana Tourism, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Norton Healthcare.
We developed a second portfolio book solely featuring my humanitarian work from projects in Iraq, Tanzania, Bangladesh, India and Ethiopia.
We photographed Jerry Lee Atwood in Indianapolis, Indiana for Garden & Gun.
I kicked off a long-term personal project for Anchal Project, a nonprofit social enterprise that addresses the exploitation of women around the world. This project will take us to India in 2020.
We developed a 25-page promotional mailer consisting of my photography and the stories coinciding to the photography. This magazine was sent out to over 60 creative directors, art buyers, art directors and producers all over the world.
I closed out the year with Nadus Films in Southeast Asia, in the heaviest impact project I’ve been apart of to date.
My band (intheclear) played a 10-year reunion concert for a crowd of 300+ people at Headliners Music Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. A chapter closed.
I traveled over 70,000 miles.
I received a 98% on my Part 107 FAA drone pilot test.
I installed a sauna in my home.
I purchased a van.
I may get a losers share less locker, shower, towel and tax, but with each loss there is a win and with each new ending comes a new beginning. I've become armed to overcome whatever may come my way with courage and stamina, equipped to push harder, move faster and explore further than ever before.
Behind the brand is a collection of people who I owe a debt of gratitude for 2019: Mom, Dad, Missy Lynn, Jeff Lynn, Alex Hepfinger, Andy Hepfinger, Colleen Hepfinger, Louis Tinsley, Danny Alexander, Nayo Ayegbajeje, Joseph Hart, Emily Frye, Danny Bloom, Sean Reagan, Thomas Ingersoll, Kyle Brown, Craig Oppenheimer, Stacy Swiderski, Jordan Hartley, Gary Barragan, Coury Deeb, Ryan Galanaugh, Drew Layman, Andrew Robinson, Michael Murphy, Justin Gustavision, Miranda McDonald, Kelsey Taylor Fell, Emily Pierce, Rory White, Anastasia Gerdes, Tyler Anderson, Mike Brady, David Bongiorno, Pamela Berry and Sol Perry.
LIFE BEHIND THE LENS
