Last year was professionally my most fulfilling yet. It was my second full year of freelancing and while some aspects of it were much more challenging than during my first, I am happy because I did a few of the things I’ve always fancied.
Working independently has pros and cons. Work can be unreliable and pay poor and slow to materialise. But freelancing affords a freedom that in certain circumstances can allow journalists or photographers to follow their interests and use their jobs as a window to interesting happenings in far-flung corners of the world.

I feel incredibly lucky that I was able to just pretty much take off on a whim and spend four weeks getting some incredible access to interesting people on all sides of the divide in Israel and Palestine. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I created but which was made possible through the job I happen to do.
Other places I’ve visited for work this year include India – where I’ll be returning a few months’ time – as well as Malaysia and northern Italy. This kind of work won’t last forever as grown up life takes over, but I’m lucky to be doing it while I can.

The other thing that 2008 has given me is an obsession with photography, that has grown and grown since I bought a digital SLR camera 12 months ago. I’ve done a couple of basic courses and have plans to do more, and I have vague, unformed notions of moving from words to pictures at some point in the future.

In the meantime, I’m spending part of this month trying to bring some renewed focus to my business. Step one is a snazzy new website, which went live tonight.