2023: A Year in Review

12 Dec

2023 feels like the first normal year I’ve had behind my camera since 2020. From the Arctic to the Himalayas my work’s taken me to three continents, six countries and again focussed on raising funds for the very species they depict.

2023

When I first sat down to write this, on a train from London to Wiltshire, making my way to an exciting meeting (for what it contained and because it’s over a pub lunch), I thought to myself that 2023 finally feels like our first normal year since 2020. At least from a work perspective.

Travel bans, red lists and vaccine passports that plagued our last three years have been dispensed with, hopefully for good, and trips that had been on hold for months were finally able to take flight.

That said as one disaster began to diminish in the rear view mirror the world swerved straight in to another, both in Ukraine and the Middle East. How naive I was to start writing this with the words ‘year’ and ‘normal’ in the same sentence.

It feels folly at times to write about reasons to be positive, or to highlight small successes against an increasingly depressing global news cycle. But I believe, and hope you agree, that we must keep doing so and enjoy the wins, regardless of size, for what they are.

New Work

As ever my year revolved around rainy seasons. My images are so reliant on heavy cloud cover (for it creates far more drama in an image than a blue sky can ever produce) I spend my days discussing when the rains will come and trying to time my trips for the few days prior to their arrival.

The best success I had this year was an eight day trip to Namiri Plains in the Serengeti, Tanzania. Here, through the phenomenal guiding of Anderson Kayle, one of the most patient men I have ever worked with, we spent hours in the company of the areas big cats, focussing on lion and cheetah for my new collection, On Open Plains that will be released in early 2024.

Every year I’m surprised by the new ‘perks’ of this job, and the story below is one I never envisioned when setting out on this career path and one I’m not in a rush to repeat.

New Partnerships

For any artist working with a new gallery brings great excitement and optimism. While we have been working on the partnership quietly for a number of months, earlier this year I was delighted to announce representation with McKay Williamson Gallery. Based in Ladbroke, London, their owner and founder, Richard Williamson has helped push my work in new directions and we launch our first show together this week at The Old War Offices in London.

Fundraising

This year has undoubtedly been the hardest for auctioneers at charity events in recent memory. That said we’ve been delighted to donate pieces to Zoological Society of London, Global Conservation Corps, Tusk and the Pelorus Foundation, raising a combined £25,000.

The piece for Tusk, (Born Wild, pictured above) is still available, with 100% of the profits going to support their vital conservation work. To bid on the piece below kindly email artforcharitycollective@gmail.com

*‘Born Wild’,* available now with 100% of the profits going to Tusk

Guided Safaris

This year saw the return to some of my favourite destinations, Svalbard in particular, but also a host of new locations, South Luangwa and the Lower Zambezi in Zambia and Hemis National Park in the Himalayas.

Each offers something vastly different to the next but revolve around our key theme at Armstrong Fortescue, wild and exclusive.

The Arctic Circle

Svalbard saw our first group trip of the year head to the frozen north, as 10 guests joined us aboard MV Villa in search of polar bears in one of the planet’s most absorbing environments. We were not disappointed as we were spoilt with sightings, not just of bears but of walrus, Arctic fox and the Arctic’s surprising variety of bird life.

We return here with a sold out trip in May 2024 and again in 2025, spaces for which are still available. Discover how you can join us here.

The Valley of the Leopard

Zambia is a county I had long wished to visit, described by many as one of the last truly wild safari destinations. For 10 days we braved the soaring October temperatures, knowing the heat would concentrate the game around the dwindling water reserves and, in doing so, attract great numbers of predators.

Just as had been in the Arctic, again we were spoiled, often seeing lion, leopard and painted wolves on the same safari, the ultimate hat-trick for all safari goers. We were also able to get our guests eye-to-eye with hippo and elephant through a series of low level photography hides, and look forward to returning to Zambia in 2024 and 2025. More information on how to join us here.

As ever we must thank our incredible partners at each of these destinations and know that we could not put any of these trips together without you.

To read more detailed accounts of each of these trips visit our Armstrong Fortescue website here.

2024

Looking ahead at the next 12 months there is a lot to be optimistic about. Some great collaborations with some of my favourite artists are starting to take shape, I head to Brazil for the first time to work on new images and will be in the Arctic twice, once with Armstrong Fortescue guests and once to raise money for Tusk. More on all of that very soon. Enjoy your holidays.

William Fortescue

With an instantly recognisable style William’s internationally acclaimed work has seen him quickly make his mark on the industry and raise over £110,000 for conservation causes. His first coffee table book, The Last Stand, was released in October 2022, the same month he became the youngest wildlife photographer to have a nine week solo exhibition in London.

Represented by leading art galleries at home in the U.K. and overseas William’s work has sold around the world and been part of globally successful conservation initiatives Prints for Wildlife and New Big 5.

In 2021, together with Matthew Armstrong-Ford, William co-founded Armstrong Fortescue, a photographic safari company dedicated to getting guests off the beaten track.