My word for 2026 is STILL.

Not still as in stagnant or stuck, but still as in: I am still here. Still standing. Still showing up. Still noticing.

And also still as in the power of pause. The deep breath. The moment of presence before the next step forward.

For me, there’s nothing that embodies STILL more than capturing florals in black and white. There is a quiet beauty that exists in still life photography.

These images ask me to be still. To look longer. To notice the beauty in both the fresh bloom and the wilting edge, because both tell the story of being alive.

In black and white, there’s nowhere to hide. No color to distract from form, from light and shadow, from the essential truth of what’s in front of the lens. Just the quiet architecture of petals that I’d never notice in the rush of daily life if I were not still.

And maybe that’s what STILL means for me this year—showing up fully in whatever stage I’m in. Not rushing past the hard parts, or the uncertain parts, or even the beautiful parts. Just being present. Still here. Still becoming.

When I look at these photographs, I see patience. I see the value in the pause. I see that sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is sit with what’s right in front of us in all its simple, honest beauty.

So here’s to still in 2026. To noticing. To being present. To believing that even in the pause—especially in the pause—there is profound beauty worth capturing.

~Azzari