The Year in Wildsam Photography: 2025

This year, Wildsam’s photography settled in for the ride. Across highways and back roads, family trips and solitary returns home, these images reflect a deepening relationship between people and the places that shape them. 

Our stories transcended destinations and leaned into memory, presence, tradition and how the road continues to challenge and inspire us. These images show us that connection is everywhere, if we take the time to notice it.

To celebrate a remarkable year in visual storytelling, I asked some of the photographers of these images to reflect on what inspired them to capture these moments in time.

"When I came home to Maui to photograph this story, I was heartbroken from a recent breakup. I felt lost, sad and my thoughts all over the place. I decided to drive up to one of my favorite places to ruminate and be alone, Halemau’u trail on Haleakalā.

High up in the clouds I could see the Ko’olau Forest Reserve below as I walked down into the crater filled with red and black pu’u (cinder cones). Breathing deeper from the high elevation, and being in one of the most sacred Wahi Pana (storied places) on Maui gave me a moment to feel emotional clarity.

I felt the sadness I had carried for a month lift as the wind blew across the crater, giving way to a deep sense of peace.

When talking about this story, my close friend told me that the places I visited for this story, the places I came to heal myself were where the kūpuna (ancestors) went to heal. It's moments like that that makes me closer to this place: how it challenges me, gives me lessons and insight, and then makes me feel absolutely comfortable as if sinking into a deep slumber. I am always humble for each and every experience I get to have here, that the spirits seem to welcome and look after me."

—Brendan George Ko on returning home to Maui and finding healing in one of the island’s most sacred landscapes

"One thing we love doing with our kids is slowing down. We used to move fast when we traveled. Now, we can just go sit or watch birds or go on a walk. Just absorb what we see and be present with kids. It's made us more attuned to world and grounded as people.

Having kids and bringing them on trips like this, especially at this age, is that they just want to be with you, so whatever you curate, whatever the trip looks like, and wherever it is, it's going to be a journey. So when we're stopping off to look at the sand, or rocks, or in this case, a 30-foot dinosaur, it just makes trips like this more memorable."

—Mason Trinca on how traveling with twin toddlers has slowed his family's pace and turned every roadside stop into its own small wonder

"Fall colors were starting to fade in Northern Colorado, so I drove to the southern edge of the state, where the seasons linger a couple weeks behind the rest of Colorado.

Patches of yellow Aspens were in full display up high in the hills, and the aspens in town were still holding onto their summer green.

Driving towards a 4x4 road east of town, I came across a small rodeo that was just getting started. I stuck around for half the day, photographing the events and riders, including a young bull rider named James Brown. A perfect way to celebrate summer's end and welcome the new season."

—Ben Ward on capturing Colorado’s hypnotic aspens and finding an unexpected rodeo story tucked into a mountain town

"What struck me most at Keeneland was the sheer speed: the races were over almost before I could take them in. Paired with the bursts of color in the crowd, that pace pushed me to notice the smaller moments between the action. The energy lingered everywhere, steady and electric, guiding how I tried to photograph both the thrill of the races and the quieter magic of the day."

—Madeleine Hordinski on capturing the vibrancy and tradition of Keeneland's historic thoroughbred races

"I’ve always used photography as a way to lock in to the present moment and open-my-eyes to what is actually surrounding my physical body. Becoming a mother has intensified this desire for me to truly sink into the times I get to be with my baby- since I know how quickly he is changing- tomorrow he will say a new word or look at me with an expression I’ve never seen. I’ve tried to quell my obsession with documenting and instead I try to burn the moments into my memory."

—Chantal Anderson on how motherhood has reoriented her practice toward presence and the fleeting beauty of everyday change

"Being on the plains with Sabiha made me see my own home and place in a new way. The open skies and expansive land felt like a beautiful canvas for our work and friendship."

—Erinn Springer on photographing with Sabiha side by side and seeing her Midwestern home with new eyes

"I've driven through Pendleton a few times a year for a decade now. Before this assignment, I never quite got to sink my teeth into it, and this project just left me wanting to spend more time there.

It's a historic western town that was once a stop on the Oregon Trail. When you arrive you can feel that energy through the details in the town, though I wasn't slapped over the head with cowboys on horsebacks roaming the streets.

Hanging out with Richard Stapleman of Stapleman Boots, was one of my favorite moments at work this year. We talked for an hour or two as I roamed around his shop, periodically checking in the progress he was making with his boots. Stapleman, a former professional bull rider, left a really wonderful impression on me. We come from vastly different backgrounds and politics but talked about family, community, work ethic and more. It was one of the most insightful conversations I've had this year."

—Grant Hindsley on how places reveal themselves over time and how documentary photography is made through patience, proximity and connection

"My personal project, "Articles of Virtu" explores the relationship between people of the American Midwest and the cars that they own. It involves a lot of driving around and exploring the rural areas of the Midwest in hopes of finding stories. Both from people and the cars that they drive. I'll drive around for hours and stumble upon an old covered-up Riviera in Dupo, Illinois, or some other small town, then knock on the door of the house to see what the story is behind it.

Pictures of pictures, rusted and old car parts, people sweating and pouring their hearts into these pieces of metal—these are the things I like to capture, so I felt right at home at the Bronco shop. All of the work I make for my project is on large format film, and the camera is a big, bulky, light-tight wooden box. It's extremely slow and pretty impractical, but it felt right to slow down and take my time with the people that restore these machines."

—Bryan Birks on finding memory and legacy in the Bronco tradition

"I am a native Nebraskan. I was born and grew there, have moved away a number of times, but have ultimately opted to return. Often when I have been traveling around the US, people are perplexed when I tell them I am from Nebraska and still choose to live there. “Why?” they sometimes ask, incredulously.

They perhaps drove through once on a long cross-country road trip, and they blasted through the state as fast as godly possible on I-80. Their observations usually amount to the following : “It was flat and boring. There was a lot of corn.” And if they’re less considerate, "I can’t believe anyone would want to live there.” 

These are comments that Nebraskans are quite used to hearing. If I have the energy for a retort, I reply simply, 'Anything is interesting if you slow down and look with an open mind and ask questions.'

Taking a road trip on Highway 2 through the Sandhills is incredible. The rolling landscape, clouds, the quiet, is simply titillating to me. The vastness might frighten some, but to me it scratches some itch for a feeling of freedom that can’t quite be felt in any other way."

— Madeline Cass on finding never-ending inspiration in the natural wonder of Nebraska's Sandhills

"This picture is a fun one to look back on. It was about the worst shoot day conditions you could ask for: mid-40s, dumping rain, complete with lighting and thunder, and a brief window of natural light before the sunset midwinter in the PNW. Fitz, Becca, my assistant Ramon and I had a good time with it as we raced around Tiger Mountain trying to beat the light, cackling the whole way through the sloppy mess."

—Grant Hindsley on finding joy and spontaneity in a shoot day gone amok

"I've been making roadtrip imagery in a serious way since 2014. This trip not only gave me the opportunity to capture a road trip, it allowed me to do it in the backyard of where I grew up. Nothing I love more than being a tourist in my own home. During these moments at the falls, I remember the water was cold but the rocks were hot - making for a welcome pit stop on a day where we covered a lot of ground."

—Ethan Gulley on reconnecting with his Southern roots, traveling nearly 490 miles on the Georgia Traverse

"After watching Columbus (2017) by Kogonada a few years ago, it opened up an entirely new cinematic world for me, one defined by the town’s quietly arresting architecture.

Columbus, Indiana has a population of about a little over 50,000, yet its buildings, many created by architectural giants, possess a presence so commanding that it makes you feel small in the best, most centering way. After visiting several times, I realized that this feeling is what draws me back, a sense of being absorbed by structures that are both monumental and humane.

It is difficult to describe until you stand before them yourself, though the film captures that sensation with remarkable clarity. When I pitched this story, I was thrilled for the chance to spend hours inside these brilliantly conceived spaces and to experience the town’s design on my own. I think it's a place everyone should see at least once!"

—Madeleine Hordinski on her inspirations behind her photographic exploration of Columbus, Ohio, a surprising midcentury mecca

"The Ten Thousand Islands have always caught my eye, both as an expedition and a photographic subject. The environment can be punishing for photography, balancing expensive camera gear and essential supplies on a delicate kayak, but the rewards are worthy.

Myself and writer, Zack Sampson, approached a small island called Turtle Key, and we wondered if the namesake was for the island's shell-like dome, or a habitat for the sea turtles that call the Gulf of Mexico home. We were answered by a gasping breath as several sea turtles broke the surface around our kayaks."

—Zack Wittman on navigating the wild wonders of Florida's Ten Thousand Islands