Jens Bachem’s Neighborhood

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Lewisham still manages to look dreary even on a snowy morning. What is it with this town?

What can I say about 2009? These past 12 months have been quite incredible; the highs have been very high and the lows very low. The New Year starts for me in an uncertain light and I am not quite sure what to expect, apart from the unexpected if the end of this year is anything to go by. :)

The most important thing that has happened to me this past year might just be going pro with my photography. Being able to take photos, with my best friend as well, and to earn money from doing something I love has been amazing. The only downside has been the fact that I've had less time and motivation for my street photography. It feels funny to be shooting so many photos and actually sharing less here with you. Next year is already looking very busy wedding-wise for us, so I might just have to apologise well in advance for this trend to continue. ;)

  A lot of things happened in 2009; our offices moved in March, I had the swine flu in May and I finally found the courage to get my wisdom teeth pulled out in November. I also survived a minor accident on a London bus in April and lived through the massive snow fall in February (which got me published in the Flick 2009 review just a few weeks ago!). Oh - and I met Ethan Hawke (and went all mushy babbling fangirl on him). There were some amazing fun I had with my friends, for example when I celebrated my birthday in a Victorian cell (converted into a bar) as well as seeing and hearing a lot of great live music; Rachel Yamagata and Heather Nova being the most memorable gigs this year.

Work has been very challenging this year and there have been times when it has got me to a point of apathy, which is very unlike me. 2010 is going to be full of further changes in the office and I'll need you all to keep your fingers and toes crossed for me as there are big things going on work-wise for me in the first quarter of the coming year. I'll really need all the positive energy and luck out there sent my way, please.

  The end of the year has been particularly difficult and I have been so grateful for all the support me and my family have had from all our friends and immediate family. I really had no idea how blessed and loved we really were until we hit some really hard times in September. I cannot say thank you enough to all the people who helped us through these last few months. Actually, it's been quite a difficult year to a lot people I know, so here's hoping that 2010 will be a little better and brighter for all of us.

The things that have got me through this year, apart from my amazing friends and family, have included Spotify; which is an incredible service for free music, Etsy; which continues to be an amazing place to find all things unique and crafty as well as Easyjet (from all the things!) as it has been a lifesaver this year flying me without a fail to and back from Finland. I've also been spoiled by some great books this year from which I can recommend The Exception by Christian Jungersen, The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and The Colour by Rose Tremain wholeheartedly. Big up to Bookmooch at this point for providing me with these and a lot of other good books for free this year!

For 2010 I am unusually not making any resolutions as such. This year has been good to me in a sense that I am thinner, richer and bitter-sweetly happier than in 2008 - something I'd like to keep up this coming year. The overall plan really just includes taking better care of myself, having more quality time with my friends and family and just enjoying myself in the small moments life and London throw my way.

Although my blogging here has been quite irregular and erratic this year I'd like to thank you all for your patience and ongoing support and comments. My photos are few and far in between, but I promise to continue to share them with you as much as I can. The photos in this post are from my Holga 35mm which took me a long time to shoot this autumn/winter. However they seemed to have turned out lovely on the Neopan 1600. :)

Actually, after all the above I'm really looking forward to the New Year as it seems to bring with it great opportunities and big challenges. So, I wish us all a fantastic, exciting and positively eventful 2010 as we start the new decade tonight! Happy New Year! <3

My brother and his wife were kind enough to but me a new standard zoom for Christmas, a lens I've been putting through its paces over the last few days. Expect quite a few photographs on here over the coming days...

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