So what is the 50/2024 Project?
Back in May of 2024, I decided that I needed to bring the creative expression of photography back into my life. As a full-time Creative Director, my professional role has evolved to consist of mostly advertising and marketing budgeting, client relations and directing creative timelines, assets and final sign-offs—a far cry from the actual pixel-pushing I used to love. For almost a decade, photography has been placed 'on the shelf' as I focused my free time to develop an adventure and off-road based YouTube channel (Adventuruss, if you're into that sort of thing).
Over that time, I realized that creating videos for that channel, going on multi-day adventures away from home, then coming back to edit for days on end wasn't (and still isn't) the life I want to lead. Though I have had some incredible moments, filled with adrenaline and friendship, I felt the need to be less selfish about my free time. I missed my wife. I missed my dog. I wanted to be home.
One evening in May of this year, Carrie and I headed downtown to the S&W building for a date night. We entered a space full of laughter, excitement and smiles. Little did we know that Divine was upstairs hosting her Song-O event. For those not in the know, it is illegal to play bingo in a location that serves alcohol (in the state of NC). Obviously, we enjoyed our time there. On the way home that evening, I wondered about how I could help Divine and the drag community by providing portraits they could use to promote their events.
After a little bit of back-and-forth about it, I rented out a local studio here in Asheville for the day. I really threw myself to the wolves, having been out of the photography scene for the better part of a decade—and to launch it all again with a new camera, new strobes and in a rented new space. As the Queens started to arrive, I got a rush of adrenaline from the excitement of actually creating something again... and not just something for me... but something that ultimately had the possibility of helping others.
The day was done, and I was exhausted, but grateful and excited for the future. I knew in that moment of reflection, that I wanted to push myself further and create a personal project that would help me to regain my creative confidence, but also provide value for people, all at no cost to them.
The following weeks and months proved quite challenging. I decided to rent a storage unit and move as many things out of my garage as possible so I could create a space to work without having to rent local studios and transport my gear every time I had a session. This ended up being a pretty good decision, I think.
There were weeks where I'd have a session booked every day, and then out of nowhere, a lull for 3 weeks or more. Having that swing in interest played with my head quite a lot. Should I be doing this? Does anyone care? Do I care? You get the point. Then December arrived. 3 sessions short of my goal of 50. Then someone canceled. Then another needed to reschedule. Then another session was booked. And another. I was honestly losing my mind—getting so frustrated. But why? This was a personal goal, right? Right. It was like this until about 5pm on New Year's Eve. Jeremy showed up for me in a big way. Last minute, NYE, and the project was complete.
I am very thankful for everyone that participated in the project. While challenging, frustrating and disheartening at times—it was worth it. If you're reading this and are interested in seeing all of the images from this project, I invite you to head over to my Instagram account (@rwphotographics) — it all started there.
Thanks for reading!
