Year in review 2025

2025 wasn't a sprint, it was a balancing act.

This year feels like it's already over, long before it actually ends. When things start going quiet around the twentieth of December, appointments drop away and the phone rings less, there's finally space to look back. Not out of duty, but because my head needs it.

For me, 2025 wasn't a linear year. There was no steady climb, no clear plan that simply worked out. It was a year full of breaks, decisions, doubts, growth and real development. A year that demanded more of me than many before it.

The start in January was anything but glorious. A part-time job, long days, often home only around seven in the evening. Family life at the limit. My wife on parental leave, me often absent physically and mentally. The feeling of being needed everywhere and being properly present nowhere. Work, family, responsibility — all at once, and nothing of it done right.

In that phase I often felt like I was losing myself. Not because the work didn't make sense, but because it took away the space I need to be good. As a person, as a partner, as a father and as a creative.

In April came the breakout. The resignation. The step back into full self-employment. Not an easy decision, but a necessary one. Suddenly that clarity was back. The possibility of focusing fully on my work as a photographer and videographer. Not on the side, not constrained, but with full attention.

Revenue picked up. Slowly, but noticeably. A financial buffer started to build. For the first time in a long while, real confidence. Not euphoric, but calm. The feeling that it might carry me again if I stay with it.

In June, a month in France. Joint parental leave. The laptop mostly stayed shut. Appointments faded into the background. Instead, time. Conversations. Daily life. The realisation that work and family don't have to exclude each other if you shape the conditions yourself. That freedom doesn't mean always working — it means being able to decide when not to.

Back in Leipzig, reality was waiting. New projects, new opportunities, but also new challenges. My wife going back to work. The daycare settling-in phase. Illnesses. Logistics. That constant juggling where you never feel in control, just barely keeping up.

And then October came.

Sudden emptiness. No new inquiries. Payments delayed. Open invoices, expenses ongoing. That familiar unease. Fear about making ends meet. A flashback to the previous year. I noticed how quickly old patterns can resurface when external security wobbles. How close you can be to a low even when, objectively, a lot has already been achieved.

I was close to slipping back into that hole.

But things turned. Not suddenly, not dramatically, but step by step. An agency I'm now starting a pilot project with and want to work with regularly going forward. A team shooting for a solid fee in January. Two big quotes to one client that give me stability for the new year. Two more shoots in December. Small and large signals that together form a picture.

For the first time, the feeling: it carries.

Alongside that I invested. Not out of consumer impulse, but conviction. In my work. My processes. My professionalism. A second camera for more flexibility. A new gimbal for calmer work. A fast all-rounder zoom that saves me time day to day. More storage, better tools, a workspace in a shared studio.

Structurally a lot has happened too. A business account that's clear. Accounting software that takes work off my plate. Clear procedures, fixed processes. All aimed at working faster, better, more efficiently and more confidently. Not to hustle more, but to have more control.

I'm grateful for referrals. For people who think of me when they need someone for photo or video. For my network. For the clients who trust me. And for being able to live my dream. To finance my life with photography and videography, support my family and still stay myself in the process.

2025 was loud. Chaotic. Demanding. It tested me and in many places forced me to look more closely. But above all, it was a step forward. Not a big leap — a solid foundation.

And that's what I'm looking forward to. To everything that gets to build on it.

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