It seems only yesterday that we were celebrating the end of a tumultuous 2020 and cautiously anticipating a “return to normal” in 2021. If by “normal” we meant something akin to 2019, then I suspect we’ll be waiting for a long time.
Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. Obviously, there are things I hope we can bid farewell to sooner rather than later, from travel restrictions and lockdowns to full hospitals and crack-pot conspiracy theories.
On the other hand, our sense of normalcy badly needed a shake-up. For too long, “business as usual” has been the go-to mode even when the long-term consequences of doing so will be far more catastrophic for the planet than those of Covid. Something definitely had to give. Was this the jolt we needed? I sure hope so, though it is by no means inevitable.
In many ways, 2020 and 2021 have felt like a single (albeit very long) year, one in which disruptions have been the rule rather than the exception. Obviously, it wasn’t great. Our guided Kenya and Malawi trips were canceled, as were all of my assignments for 2020 and most of those for 2021. Magazine and newspaper budgets were restricted even more than usual.
Still, I find myself grateful, too. Without all the canceled jobs, I doubt I would have turned my attention to the destructions of old-growth forests in my native Sweden. Documenting the shockingly unsustainable forestry practices there - we are clear-cutting forests at a higher rate than Brazil! - has become a major focus for me, and is now my longest-running photography project to date.
Also, as some doors closed, others opened. Despite not being able to travel much, I received more photography awards during the Covid pandemic than during the first nine years of my career combined. I became a regular New York Times contributor, a Sony Imaging Ambassador and a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers. I launched an online print store of some of my favourite photos.
I also got to spend lots of quality time with my family. We moved to Portugal and adopted two rescue dogs - a puppy someone threw in a trash container and a 16-year old who had spent his entire life on a short chain. I made some wonderful new friends. I lost no friends or family members to Covid. And I did get to travel, spending four months on assignment in Namibia and South Africa in mid-2021.
Jess with our two rescue dogs, 16-year old Bruno and 1-year old Ellie.
And now?
I think 2022 will be different. I have a number of exciting assignments coming up, from Bhutan and Tajikistan to Central African Republic and Svalbard - not to mention going back to Sweden, Namibia and South Africa. We are also guiding what promises to be a fantastic safari to South Luangwa for Dazzle Africa in July. Whether these trips all end up happening remains to be seen - the reality of traveling being what it is these days - but, once again, I feel cautiously optimistic.
Cautiously optimistic is also my general outlook regarding the state of our planet. Not because I think we’re on the right track - we really aren’t - but because I think the last two years might just have been the beginning of something that can lead us to that path. Either way, losing hope simply isn’t an option, and I remain convinced that most people would rather be kind than cruel.
In fact, that seems like a great reminder to kick off the new year:
Be kind. Be grateful. Be curious.
Thank you all for your engagement, and for being part of my 2021 journey.
Photographing meerkats in Tswalu, South Africa. Image by Barry Peiser.