12. A new year... and a new direction...
Happy new year ✨ We’re allowed to still say this, right? I hope your 2023 has been off to a good, peaceful and easy start.
As we all know, Instagram has become kind of a funny place to be, especially for a lot of creatives. Freelancing as a photographer meant I needed to make myself as visible as possible and I believed Instagram was the best way to do that. Recently, I wasn’t so sure about this. Since December 25th, I decided to do a 30 day detox after I reading a bit of Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. I deactivated my account and strangely, I don’t miss it. I really thought there’d be some withdrawal or urge to come back, but there have been none. I’m happy to connect with others elsewhere.
I think a lot of my colleagues are a feeling dissatisfied with Instagram. Melissa Lyttle shared a bit on her newsletter why she archived all her work. Others are going private because everyone is getting hacked or there’s an incessant amount of spam. I don’t like that my work is at the mercy of algorithms that I can’t control. So, I’m heading in a new direction - I’d like to use this space as a way to engage and connect.
What do you want to see from my newsletter? Are there topics or ideas I should explore? What can I provide so you won’t unsubscribe 😬
Would love to hear in the comments below or send me an email!
Recent Work…
To be quite honest, I don’t have much new work from my last newsletter but I’ll share some work I didn’t get to share from last year. December is normally slow, so I took it easy.
In 2022, I was hired by the Mozilla Foundation to create virtual portraits of people all over the world for their Internet Health Report regarding AI.
Here are a a few portraits of people I met who come from South Africa, Ecuador, Belgium, Australia, India and different cities here in the US.
The New York Times - Have the Anticapitalists Reached Harvard Business School
In early November, I made a visit to Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, to sit in a Responsibility of Business class. The article explores the changes in business courses and what students are learning now.
I met Sandra Woods for an AARP feature. The AARP Community Challenge grant program awarded $14,051 to Thomas Jefferson University to build the garden near Fairmount Park which is where Sandra spends her time.
Other recent things…
I was pretty resistant to making Instagram reels, but I made my first one after my son had his cleft lip surgery in December. I enjoyed the creative process and using mixed media to tell a story. When I photography son and family, I feel a sense of freedom since I’m doing it purely for the sake of creating an archive of our lives.
Right at the end of December, I received a IWMF Fund for Women Journalists grant for my first international reporting trip. I’m partnering with the Washington Post to work on a project in South Korea this spring. I’ll be in Seoul from May 1 - June 7, 2023. More on this later!
2023 Intentions
Read 24 books or 2 books a month. Follow me on my reading journey on my bookstagram, Goodreads or Storygraph . I love talking about books.
Start swimming at a local pool
Connect and meet a few new commercial clients
Do a digital declutter (inbox ZERO, organize my google drive and set up my Notion dashboard)
Sleep better and sleep more 😴
Bonus content….
I did a week detox from IG recently and it was so refreshing. Back for the time being, but already second-guessing the return. Also excited for your upcoming project in Seoul--I'll keep my eyes peeled for the work later this year. I lived in Seoul for about a year in the early-2010s, so I've got a soft spot for the city!
Love all these updates, Hannah. I appreciate your inner thoughts on creativity so much so I hope you do more of that. Life updates too :)