If you’re reading this, hi! Thank you for being here. This is my first time doing a yearly wrap up, but I feel like 2025 was such an enormous year that I almost need this as an excuse to go through the archives and remember what I did. How to start… Let’s go in chronological order, shall we?

I rang in the first moment of 2025 in Tangram Ski Circus at Hillary, Dan and Blake’s funky mountain chalet. I tried to learn how to ski, it did not go well. But it was so healing onsen-ing and tonkatsu-ing with my mates in a snowy wonderland to kick off this new year. Hillary and Blake are so cool: They run The Layer, a boutique accommodation and hotel brand with locations in Ito, Tangram and Atami. They’re literally making a seven-room boutique Showa-inspired hotel in Atami with a bar and kissaten. That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard?

In February, two major things happened. Number one: I went freelance. Since 2022 I had been a full-time staff member at TW, but I felt that I needed to explore something new, so I dropped down to part-time so I could take on external freelance work. This was such a big and scary decision for me because it was the first time that I was a solo, out-in-the-abyss creative. I had no idea if anybody would even want to work with me as a freelancer? What if it was a huge flop and I came crawling back for my full-time job? One thing about me though is that I need to squeeze the juice out of everything I try, so I decided I would give it a red hot go.

The other big thing in February was that I went back to Australia for a month. Leaving Japan’s freezing February for a sizzling hot Gold Coast summer was a shock to the system, but I do have to admit that each time I go back home to Australia I fall in love with it more. Of course, Japan is stunning, but nothing beats annihilating a custard tart on dad’s countryside farm, seeing the Milky Way with your eyes, driving alongside bouncing kangaroos as the sun sets in a sublime fuchsia gradient and the familiar smell of a good old gumtree…

The next big thing that happened was that I saved my yennies and invested in a Nikon Z6iii. What a powerhouse of a camera. It couldn’t have come at a better time, as exactly one day later I decided to give myself a little project. Basically, down near Portarlington there’s a group of (predominantly female) ocean swimmers called the Salties who wake up before dawn, regardless of the season, to swim in the bay. I wanted to know why and to learn more about their community. So, with my literally-just-born Nikon Z6iii, a little 40mm f2 and my Rode mics, I went down each morning to make a short documentary. If you feel so inclined, you can watch it right here, right now.

March rolled around, and back in Japan I was just working lots and loving the freshly-bloomed cherry blossoms when I received the DM of my life from Esses Magazine. A few days later I found myself inside a fancy kushikatsu restaurant in Ginza setting up my camera to film social content with THE Yuki Tsunoda (Insert one thousand exclamation marks). If you don’t already know this about me, much to the shock of both myself and the people around me, my current obsession is Formula 1 and I stay up until silly hours to watch it.

In early April I popped down to Ishigaki for “work” (gallivanted around a stunning hotel called Seven by Seven) and a week later shot a feature with the inspiring Yuki Otani (aka Kintsugi Lady) for Tokyo Weekender.

May was a fun one. Early in the month I did an impromptu shoot with YAD OUD in Shibuya, and a day later I flew out to Singapore for work.

Singapore, okay wow! This was my first time visiting and it totally exceeded my expectations. As I was checking into the hotel early in the morning I was very seriously advised by the hotel staff: “No smoking, no parties, no durian". First objective: eat a durian. Even though my colleague Eugenie and I had caught the red-eye flight, we mustered up all the energy we had and visited Gardens by the Bay and Chinatown. That evening we tried durian-lite (the mousse version, the guy at the shop literally wouldn’t let me buy a durian because he said I needed to try the mousse first. In retrospect, a good sales tactic…) I actually quite enjoyed it, it was like an unripe banana mixed with petrol. I never went back for the real durian though. A week later I went on a regular work shoot down to Kyoto and Nara, but there was one unique moment I’ll carry forever: Standing inside a green tea factory replying to a DM from Orlando Bloom. Casually!! (He didn’t message me, he messaged Tokyo Weekender… but still)

June started with a little overnight trip to Hakone to see some art and stay at an onsen ryokan. Otherwise it was a relatively uneventful month, just a lot of work, a few lovely evenings at hotel bars (Bvlgari being a personal standout). June is one of my favourite times to be in the office because the little garden park below transforms into a toad oasis — a true haven for knobbly amphibians — and sometimes after a long day in the office a few of us will pop downstairs and go searching for them. It’s actually fun, you should come next time.

This is when it starts getting juicy. In early July I was given a big and exciting project, and before I knew it I was on an overnight flight to Australia to shoot with my favourite camera brand in the entire world. I can’t say too much, but I will just say that I am still on the official website banner…

August was chill, because frankly, it was too hot in Japan and I needed a break after the frenetic energy of July. I saw friends, did hotel and travel shoots here and there, and grappled with a weird health issue that I now recognise was my body screaming at me to calm down (nothing major, I just constantly had red raw eyelids?) Later in August I did an overnight stay at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo and toured the absolutely sensational Frank Lloyd Wright Suite. The last week of August saw me in Osaka at the Waldorf Astoria on a shoot where I experienced the most incredible omotenashi of my life. The bar manager saw an interview where I discussed my most favourite photo of all time (my front cover with Herbie Yamaguchi) and then had the photo PRINTED on a piece of chocolate and delivered to my room. Wild.

In September I received an invite to the Australian Embassy in Tokyo to meet the Governor-General in my capacity as an Australian photographer connecting cultures between Australia and Japan. Never thought of myself in that way, but that made me feel nice. A few days later I went to Fuji Q with Hillary and Poppy. Even though the last time I was at Fuji Q I swore an oath that I would never ride Eejanaika ever again, I very begrudgingly got on that damn rollercoaster and very begrudgingly had an amazing time.

Mid-September I was on a plane again headed for one of favourite places in the entire world: London! Oh I love London. Our first task was to consume the largest, most expensive English breakfast of all time and then visit a museum I’d had on my list for years: The Wallace Collection. I could actually cry at how healing The Wallace Collection was, for two reasons. Number one, in there hangs the most beautiful painting I have ever laid my eyes on, The Swing by Fragonard. To see her in the flesh? No words. Tingles up my spine. Secondly, to see bodies of all shapes and sizes celebrated in there was something I really needed. Living in Japan warps your brain a bit.

Still jetlagged, we hopped on a flight to Venice to start our 2025 EuroTrip™️. Too much happened on that month long trip that it warrants its own post, that’s coming.

After an amazing month in London, Venice, the Dolomites, Edinburgh and Glencoe, we landed back in Tokyo at 5pm one October eve, and three hours later we were in Omotesando celebrating Tokyo Weekender at their exhibition opening night! A few of my photos from TW shoots over the years were on display, including my photos from that iconic day in Yoyogi Park shooting the Strangers. YouTube video linky here.

After all that travelling and big photo projects and never actually taking a proper break, I promised myself that once I was back from Europe I would truly and genuinely relax… but the cosmos had other plans. A week after coming home I was contacted by The New York Times to shoot their Tokyo Guide. The work commenced immediately.

Early-November was spent working tirelessly on the guide, and once it was done I had a lovely little trip down to Kyoto to experience the Hotel Seiryu Kyoto Kiyomizu, thanks to my friends at Leading Hotels of the World. On 19 April, the NYT guide went live. I would love to link you, but it’s paywalled, so you’ll just have to Google it. November also saw me at the Imperial Hotel, Osaka and the freshly re-opened Park Hyatt Tokyo. Also, remember that mini documentary I made back in January? It debuted at a film festival down in Melbourne on 15 November.

I think you’ll be glad to read that in December I didn’t do much except play lots of Stardew Valley. I did, however, do a work trip to Fuji Speedway Hotel and drove a Nissan GT-R R35 NISMO around Fuji Speedway.

How do I feel about 2025? I actually just feel really proud of myself. Entering the world of freelancing is tricky because no two journeys are the same, but I was given some incredible opportunities to express my creativity in ways I’d never done before. The year wasn’t perfect, there are still things I need to learn about myself and habits I need to establish. But overall, five stars for trying. Also, you truly never know where your life will take you. Things I’d started years prior manifested in strange ways in 2025. So start that thing you want to do today, plant that seed. One day the fruit will grow and ripen!

2025: The Year it All Started Happening

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