Every January, I go back and take stock of the work that I’ve done over the previous year, and pull together my favorite one hundred images during that period. It’s excruciating. It’s an exercise that is valuable to me in learning about my own vision and how it can improve, but it’s also very hard to winnow down tens of thousands of images to just one hundred. Sometimes, it’s hard to let go of certain images that I like, but just don’t make the cut. Sometimes, it’s a struggle to find that on a shoot where I thought I got something really special, looking back on the images away from the moment, realizing that they were just OK. But I made it, and I hope that you enjoy the results.
But first…
2018 was my best year ever since hanging out my shingle in 2002. I’ve built up my business in Chicago, moved to New York, and now I’ve been in Maryland for five years. There are times that I’ve felt like I’ve hit reset on my business in these moves, and times that I’ve relished the opportunity to refocus what I do. This past year I have been so grateful to work with so many clients that have stretched back to the early days of my career (made it around full circle to another OFN conference in Chicago, after shooting every conference for them since 2004, it was fun to go back to where it all started!) and to work with so many new clients for the very first time. It’s an honor to help tell their stories.
This year had so many fantastic adventures. Some highlights include:
- Working with Disabled Sports USA, a really inspiring organization. I was brought up to New York to make portraits of thirty-some real heroes and to photograph their annual gala. DSUSA then also invited me out on other occasions to photograph sledge hockey (didn’t even know that was a thing!) and wheelchair basketball. Just so fascinating.
- Continued explorations of rural areas of West Virginia and Virginia with the Natural Capital Investment Fund and The Conservation Fund. I now own muck boots. I just wish that I had the sense to have purchased them before these jobs, but getting knee deep in mud is what makes this job fun!
- Photographing a wedding at an historic theatre in the Berkshires. What a venue!
- Photographing a meeting with Congressman John Lewis and getting a history lesson on the Civil Rights Movement, and then immediately afterwards walking into a protest for gun safety.
- Stephan Wolfert of De-Cruit performing his one-man show “Cry Havoc!” at the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium. This was one of the most raw and poignant pieces of theatre and healing that I have ever seen.
- DeRay Mckesson and Gloria Steinem in conversation at Prosperity Now’s Prosperity Summit.
- Marching in the DC Pride Parade with folks from Sibley Memorial Hospital/Johns Hopkins Medicine. Thankfully I was warned beforehand that I would be marching with them to document the experience. Their shuttle bus driver was not so much brought up to speed, but was a great sport about allowing his bus to be decorated and then driven along the route.
- And so many others, but look at the photos, they’re more articulate than my words!
As always, as much as I love my clients, I love my family more for their support. My wife and son have to deal with me coming and going for days at a time, and I am in gratitude for my father-in-law for traveling in to pick up the slack while I’m gone. I love and thank you all!
I’m looking forward to more adventures in 2019. As always, feel free to reach out to me at sclevitan@mac.com. I’d love your feedback, and the opportunity to collaborate on some imagery together for you!
