25 pics from ’25

I’ve been compiling annual sets of photographs that correspond to the year’s number since 2010. At the end of 2025, I selected 25 images from about 8,000 I had made and saved to create a roughly chronological sequence that tells my story about people and places in Canada, England and Scotland for the year.

Canadian Frontier

I travelled east from Calgary in July to camp in the West Block of Grasslands National Park with Aspen the Airedale and Shearwater, my converted Sprinter camper van. Along with visits to Waterton National Park and Writing on Stone Provincial Park, I laid some of the groundwork for a long-term photography project exploring southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, close to but not crossing the border into the USA.

A herd of Plains bison, Grasslands National Park. © J. Ashley Nixon

Fish Creek

It doesn’t feel like you are in a big city when you journey through Fish Creek Provincial Park. But it’s there, right inside Calgary, a massive space (at 1,348 hectares, it’s three times as big as Vancouver’s Stanley Park) with a network of trails weaving along and across Fish Creek that flows west to southeast through beautiful mixed woodland and prairie grassland into the Bow River.

A natural stage where walkers, runners, skaters, and cyclists perform

I’m fascinated by the intersections of people and places, especially on the 15 bridges along its 19 km length and made many field trips (19) to photograph the seasonal changes on this natural stage where walkers, runners, skaters, and cyclists perform.

Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. © J. Ashley Nixon

Stampede Parade

Since 2013, I have photographed the Calgary Stampede Parade on ten occasions, often walking the entire 5 km downtown route alongside the performers. Besides my usual focus on the dancers of Raíces del Perú, I engaged with the Calgary Stampede Showband and was impressed by Shania Twain’s horsewomanship.

A dancer with the Calgary Stampede Showband performs at the Calgary Stampede Parade 2025. © J. Ashley Nixon

England and Scotland

A three-week return to the homeland to visit friends and family allowed me to spend some time in England (Bath, Bradford, Bristol, Haworth, Keighley, Leeds, London, Wells) and Scotland (Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, North Berwick). From many pictures, I selected just five.

The Navvies

The photograph of my daughter Jennifer on the embankment of the Lower Laithe Reservoir between Haworth and Stanbury is particularly poignant; full of punctum for me. The construction of this important infrastructure that provided Keighley with water was completed a century ago, in 1925. My Great-grandfather and Grandfather Markham were amongst the many locals who built it; my Mum, Dorothy Nixon, wrote about their efforts in her poem The Navvies, which is featured in Cobbled Together, a book of poems and photographs of Haworth published in 2021.

Jennifer Nixon, Lower Laithe Reservoir, Haworth, Yorkshire. © J. Ashley Nixon

More pics from 2025

Thank you for reading about this year’s collection of photographs and for your continued support and interest in my books, photography and films in 2025.

You can view my other 25 pictures from 2025 on my J. Ashley Nixon Photography website.

Wishing you a good year throughout 2026. Enjoy life’s journeys. Keep well!