Not feeling up to it at all? What now!?

The year starts off gray and dreary, and every time I walk our dog Guus, I take off my shoes so I don't track too much mud inside. "Drizzly" might be the right word. The year starts off just like I feel: a little sick and not very motivated.

I often immerse myself in photo albums and YouTube videos when I feel this way. In search of inspiration and new ideas, I spend far too much time watching videos and respond curtly when someone asks me a question, barely looking up from my photo albums. I know it's all my own fault, because I could have just gone out and wandered around a city for hours, armed with my trusty Fujifilm X100VI. Of course. And maybe that would have made me feel much better. Fortunately, I'll be able to do that again soon, in my beloved Antwerp.I'm looking forward to it.

The book does make me happy The Last Resort by Martin Parr. Beach photos, but in street photography style. I received it for my 50th birthday last month. Highly recommended. I'm also excited about the workshop I booked with my old teacher from the Fotovakschool. We're going to work with the flash (also known as a reportage flash) and interior photography. Stepping out of my comfort zone to learn something new.

Last year, I participated in the exhibition Your Nijmegen (now closed), featuring photographs of new residents of Nijmegen, whom I had the privilege of teaching in a three-part workshop, an introduction to photography. Their view of Nijmegen, complemented by one of my photographs of Nijmegen, was displayed at three locations in Nijmegen (Stevenskerk, Lindenberg, and the Library).

If you're lacking inspiration or simply don't feel like doing anything, try looking for something you've always wanted to learn. And then get started. Puzzling things out and feeling frustrated because somethingisn'tworkingyetalways motivates me to get back on track!

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