How I got here 7: What next?

Looking back over, and publicly documenting the previous six chapters of my life has been interesting, cathartic, and often mind-blowing from a personal point of view. I generally don’t blow my own trumpet, but the journey to this point has been absolutely jam-packed with numerous adventures, pure joy, periods of despair, huge hurdles, massive life changes, great achievements, great disappointments, big losses, and laughs galore. It’s only been boring in places, and finds itself here in uncertainty.

Most people that I know have followed a well-trodden path – leave school, maybe gain some graduate qualification, choose a vocation, or find an arbitrary  job that pays the bills, meet someone and get married, put on significant weight which will never be eliminated, buy a house on a new-build estate with a manageable mortgage, go on a two week holiday once a year, have a couple of children, put some savings away, watch the kids leave home, plan to retire a few years after the mortgage is settled, look after the grandkids, get old, die. “The status quo”. It suits many, many people, but its’ not the well-trodden path for me so far. My life, from birth, seems to have been governed by the gods of chaos – steered by an innate need for diversity, and a hatred of complying with a society-wide insistence on towing the line. 

There are a few concerns (but not regrets) that have become apparent at this juncture: Unless some huge windfall comes our way, it is likely that we will be locked into renting a home for the rest of our lives, and as a consequence we will always have to work for an income. My past excesses have resulted in a medical condition which could impact my long term health permanently, and I’ll be paying off a student loan until I cop it.

With this in mind, what does the future bring? I’ve worked hard to become one of the best real-estate and property photographers in the region, and the next step is to take the next step and progress to integrating this work with the higher-end commercial, architectural and interiors work that I’m shooting with increasing frequency. I see examples of work by guys being paid a couple of grand a day in London usually, and I cringe at the standard of some of it – non vertical building lines, poorly exposed interiors with little regard for lighting, and over-processing galore. It’s my aim to get a foothold in this more considered, and valuable type of commission, and eliminate the “shoot and runs” for “Uber-type” companies that I’m becoming so frustrated with. Once I’ve got some sort of stable client base, I’d be more than happy to work into my 70’s because it’s not work – it’s fun. 

Were living in a lovely home full of love and joy – a place where our children can thrive, and benefit from our slightly chaotic style of life – a life filled with respect for others who may not be like ourselves, an appreciation of the simple things, and the knowledge that we can have a bloody brilliant life if we follow our own paths, and ignore the bitter protestations and banal expectations of the boring millions. 

Let the fun begin!