December — A Year in Photographs — Carousel

December 1 — Day 335

#AYearinPhotographs comes to an end as the year rounds out and 2026 arrives.

Carousel feels like the right theme for this final month. It gathered the essence of several moments from earlier in the year: the longer exposures of Night in January, the exploration of my New Neighborhood in May, and June’s Through the Looking Glass. Each image carries something from the one before it, with the final photograph quietly returning to the first—a full circle. Of the month. Of the year. And of the beginning of something new. In that way, this month holds a bit of the entire year within it.

If you joined me along the way, thank you for sharing this journey of photographs. And if you’re just discovering it now, #AYearinPhotographs is still here. Each month was published as a complete series, and you can also revisit past years—2017 and 2023.

As for what comes next: the journey continues, but the medium shifts. Visual storytelling moves from the camera to the written page—where the images are left to your imagination.

Lorig: One Chronicle

This is not the beginning of what happened at Lorig.

It is what remained.

November — A Year in Photographs — Monolith

Tomatillo — Day 326

September — A Year in Photographs — Light and Shadow

Riverwalk — Day 259

Long shadows, dark, moody mornings, and black and white photography are staples in my work. While #AYearinPhotographs focuses on challenges and stepping out of one’s comfort zone, I occasionally revisit my favorite subjects. Despite not being able to claim that I haven’t enjoyed every month of this year-long project, I must admit that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.

Light and Shadow I will do each #AYearinPhotographs and it brings into one’s mind things we see every day but perhaps miss the dramatic distortion of human form, architectural subtleties, and fine details that light at such an angle accentuates.

My favorite of this month is Riverwalk — Day 259. While strolling the Chicago River Walk, the light from the morning sun, always incredible in September and October in Chicago, flowed down the natural waterway and human-made riverwalk. A security guard sauntered, a few fallen leaves blew about, and a the long shadow of the guard sliced through the frame. It was a moment I knew capturing this photograph, it would be the image for the day.