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\n\nFollowing a call-out on social media, a variety of photographers came forward with their stories, of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels. It\u2019s not only rewarding to read their stories but also inspirational, and if anyone was still in doubt about the healing power of photography, these case studies should settle the question. Ten or 15 years ago, the subject of mental health and photography was rarely discussed.<\/p>\n
Yes, you had Don McCullin and other traumatised photojournalists talking frankly about the therapeutic benefits of swapping images of war and chaos for those of rolling countryside, but when it came to mainstream photography, it simply wasn\u2019t discussed that much.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, you wouldn\u2019t have landscape photographers like the excellent Paul Sanders<\/a> building much of their business around mindful photography workshops.<\/p>\n The fact that more and more people are happy to discuss how photography has helped them with their struggles reflects a wider recognition of the importance of talking about mental health in our society, and this is surely to be welcomed.<\/p>\n Much of the stigma around the subject has gone, and rightly so. Our case studies here are certainly not the last word on the subject, however, so do keep sharing your personal experiences of the many benefits of photography on our social media pages. You can also keep sending your stories in to ap.ed@kelsey.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n This former interior designer, DJ and photo competition \u2018name\u2019 shares his experiences<\/em><\/p>\n Dominic Beaven is an accomplished \u2018all-rounder\u2019 with a particular knack for portraiture and architecture \u2013 indeed, his images regularly score highly in our annual APOY competition, and he was a finalist in the British Photography Awards 2020. Yet he\u2019s faced, and continues to face, a range of physical and mental health challenges \u2013 anxiety, depression and chronic back problems, for example. Fortunately, photography is a big help. \u2018It goes back to my childhood,\u2019 Dominic explains.<\/p>\n \u2018I loved art and studied it at college, and when I used to draw I\u2019d be in my own little world.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t \u2018The isolation of astrophotography helps me to relax and admire the beauty of nature,\u2019 says Dominic<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n Splendid isolation<\/strong> Whatever genre I am trying, and I try a lot, I escape into the image totally.\u2019 Despite describing himself as an introvert, Dominic still takes great people shots, particularly of models. \u2018Even me saying I am an introvert sounds crazy, as I was a club DJ for 15 years! But even then I was in my own little world. As for working with models, it helps massively to pay for a good model who knows what they are doing. That makes life a lot easier as you don\u2019t have to micro-manage. I am very relaxed, we get the music on\u2026 again I get lost in the moment.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t \u2018This image represents depression,\u2019\u00a0 says Dominic<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n Far from the crowds<\/strong> While this West Country photographer finds solace in nature, she also loves the order and control of studio work<\/em><\/p>\n Deborah Richards is another talented all-rounder who is as happy taking surreal landscapes or portraits as she is capturing finely detailed night scenes \u2013 indeed her stunning image of the moon behind Glastonbury Tor, taken four miles from the famous monument, graced The Times last year. \u2018I\u2019ve been a photographer since the early \u201980s but hadn\u2019t realised its therapeutic benefits until 2017, when I suffered an emotional crash which left me feeling alone and lost,\u2019 Deborah explains. \u2018I needed a reason to leave the house so I started wandering around with my Fujifilm X-T2. The more I focused on other things, the more I externalised my feelings rather than internalising them. This formed a bridge between my dissociative patterns and the world around me.\u2019<\/p>\n Solace of the studio<\/strong> These days, Deborah finds that while she still suffers from feelings of detachment from the outside world and a fear of losing control, setting up a home studio has been very therapeutic. \u2018It\u2019s nice to be able to control what I am doing and how I am interacting with anybody or anything else. The studio lighting is such a complex area, you can make it as difficult or as simple as you want\u2026 you\u2019re in control and there is so much you can do. It\u2019s interesting and gives you something else to focus on. My studio is my retreat, an escape but also a therapeutic area. My models feel this when they go in.<\/p>\n Letting go of fears of failure has helped Deborah too. \u2018You will miss shots and mess up, even in a very controlled studio situation, but you learn from your mistakes. You learn to accept disappointment and this is also good for your mental health \u2013 you know next time you\u2019ll do better.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t \u2018I play to the tune of my own symphony! I used the processes of my mind along with layers and textures\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n Be realistic about social media<\/strong> \u2018When this image appeared in The Times I felt humbled. It planted a seed that will grow with me,\u2019 Deborah says<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n \u2018I never compare my work to other images, or copy or compete against other photographers. This is my mindful, authentic approach, and it maintains my usefulness. I don\u2019t wish to fight for attention on social media and trust the right attention will happen in a synchronistic way.\u2019 Returning to her work, Deborah also cites the therapeutic effect of her image of Glastonbury Tor, above. \u2018It was a mathematical process to line everything up and I shot from several miles away\u2026 lots of precision and planning.<\/p>\n The exhilaration as the moon appeared and rolled up the hill, along with the realisation that I\u2019d positioned myself correctly to the nearest metre, gave me a huge sense of achievement. But again, I also enjoy learning from mistakes that I make during photography, and this mindset helps in other parts of my life, too.\u2019<\/p>\n Angi Wallace, another regular competition winner, finds that image-making is a big help when it comes to coping with ME<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s not \u2018just\u2019 anxiety, depression and other common mental health disorders that can present serious psychological challenges for the photographer \u2013 the fallout from physical ailments can take a heavy toll too. Angi Wallace, a successful close-up and macro specialist based in the North East, suffers from ME, more commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019ve had ME for 15 years and it affects me in a range of ways causing very low energy, fatigue, brain fog, cognitive dysfunction and much more,\u2019 Angi explains. \u2018I had to give up a fantastic career as a specialist rheumatology nurse and hobbies such as cycling, mountain climbing and gardening. So I took up photography from home and was able to adapt.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t \u2018Immersing myself in the little details is a wonderful coping strategy for pain and symptom relief,\u2019 adds Angi<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n Angi describes photography as her silver lining in the dark cloud of long-term illness and now disability, as she can no longer walk independently further than a few metres.<\/p>\n \u2018Over the years I have managed to learn by practice and by attending camera clubs, reading, watching videos etc. Most of my work is done sat at our dining table, where I have set up everything I could need for close-up, macro and still-life photography.\u2019<\/p>\n Despite her limitations, Angi has been named photographer of the year by the National Photographic Society for the past two years, while also wining plaudits from International Garden Photographer of the Year and the SWPP \u2013 as she notes with justified pride, \u2018Not bad for someone who can often barely even shower!\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t \u2018Making magic happen in the most mundane place, a dining table, keeps my brain working by problem solving,\u2019 says Angi<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n Focusing challenges<\/strong> But it\u2019s better to be doing it and trying it than not doing it. If I am doing the same sorts of things most of the time, as with macro photography, my camera is set up for this already.\u2019<\/p>\n For Angi, photography also helps to combat any feelings that she is less \u2018valuable\u2019 to society. \u2018I was career-driven before getting ME and I now put this drive into my images.<\/p>\n Doing photography is my way of being productive.\u2019 It\u2019s great to see that Angi hasn\u2019t lost her sense of humour, either. \u2018I do well in competitions as I have been doing it for a while and have a sense of what will stand out, but I don\u2019t think I have quite developed a thick-enough skin yet. Some judges can be idiots!\u2019<\/p>\n Facing the challenges of Long Covid, Emily-May explains how photography has become such a fantastic support<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019d been going through a hard time with anxiety and depression when on top of that, I contracted Covid,\u2019 says Emily-May Stephenson. \u2018I thought it\u2019d be like a bad cold, it\u2019d make me ill for a bit and then it would disappear again as quickly as it appeared in the first place. Unfortunately, it did not. After Covid itself went away, I was left with Long Covid, which I found worse than the virus.\u2019 As an otherwise physically healthy young person, it was horrible for Emily-May to suddenly go from being so active to hardly being able to get out of the house.<\/p>\n\t\t \u2018This signifies not being afraid to open a new door and take a step into the unknown\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n My mental health suffered even more and I was so fed up, but fortunately, photography has always been a part of my life. My first camera was given to me when I was a toddler \u2013 it was a lovely shade of hot pink, complete with mini games and fun filters. Coming much more up to date, my Canon EOS 90D and 18-135mm lens helped me no end during my recovery and continues to do so.<\/p>\n On days when I can only walk as far as the garden, it gives me so much joy to photograph the nature on my doorstep. On days when I can go a bit further, capturing the beauty around me makes me so happy and on days when I just want to stay in bed, I love to edit to my heart\u2019s content. It\u2019s become my number one hobby and I hope one day it can become my full-time job.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t \u2018Roads can feel like they go on forever but they\u2019ll lead you to something beautiful,\u2019 says Emily-May<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n Facing the future with hope<\/strong> Wendy Kreger-Hildebrand\u00a0from Canada discusses how photography has also helped her to deal with Covid, as well as wider mental health issues<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018I am from Canada and have been taking photos since I was around 12,\u2019 says Wendy. \u2018I have dealt with a lot of\u00a0mental\u00a0health\u00a0issues in the past few years owing to Covid. I am what\u2019s called an Acute\u00a0Health\u00a0Care Aid and work in a small community hospital. Taking photos after a long and stressful shift was a very therapeutic\u00a0process for me. After a night shift,\u00a0I was privileged to see the sunrise.<\/p>\n I would always bring my camera with me and capture some of the most beautiful moments. I also would have the opportunity to take pictures of some of my patients and their families as they communicated with each other through the windows. Taking these photos for the families made me feel as though I was capturing a special moment for them and that at any time, this could be their last photograph.<\/p>\n\t\t Photography, particularly of nature in her Canadian home, has been a huge solace to Wendy<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n \u2018Working in\u00a0health\u00a0care during Covid has been extremely stressful and I was very grateful for my photography and what it brought to my heart. I have dealt with anxiety and depression for a few years now and I use my camera as a tool to go out into the world. I guess you can say I hide behind my camera\u2026 During Covid I have become a total introvert and if it was not for my love of photography, I would never be able to interact with the world. It gives me the strength to venture out, as well as to communicate with other people.\u2019<\/p>\n Working on long-exposure coastal shots has helped Mary Maynard deal with bereavement<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018I have found that the practice of long-exposure photography has helped with the loss of my father a few years ago,\u2019 Mary explains. \u2018I started to go out to the coast for dawn shots on the south-west coast near where I live, and really found this to be very therapeutic. I think it\u2019s all to do with the slow rigour of the genre; the composition, the focusing, the selection of filters followed by the waiting. And then there is the surprise when you look at the results. Have your efforts achieved the results you wanted?<\/p>\n\t\t Dawn at Bude Sea Pool during the high tide<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n \u2018Also, making the photograph at dawn is so uplifting. You get to watch the dawn coast birds fly to their feeding grounds, the pink and blue west coast dawn effects. And all the time it\u2019s calm and the light is getting stronger. Even with the most unpromising of weathers, there is usually a brief time when there will be a shaft of light or a superb effect on the water.\u00a0 Mary adds, \u2018At first, I didn\u2019t realise why I was doing this, but after a while I realised that it was having calming effect and leading to a thankfulness and an optimism.\u2019<\/p>\n Photography really helps highly creative photographer Fobo Bugler when the black dog comes calling<\/em><\/p>\n I have always suffered from a genuine and paralysing fear of heights and have learnt two things \u2013 that I always will be, and that the camera can be a wonderful escape from reality. With regards to my repeated bouts of severe depression and anxiety, photography (and art, singing and sleeping) has regularly come to my rescue in a similar way. I am diagnosed with clinical depression. When photographing, I usually have a deep desire to be on my own. Whether walking in some Dorset woodlands or travelling abroad, I prefer to focus solely on what I see through the lens.<\/p>\n But when the depression hits, I shut down completely. Luckily, the artistic side of life helps to rebalance me when I am coming out if it. It\u2019s my therapy. Not only does the camera act as a physical barrier between me and the world I might be struggling to face, I also enjoy getting lost and engrossed in the creative editing back home too. When I let myself go on the digital manipulation side of things, I create some interesting one-offs.<\/p>\n As a photographer I have dabbled with wedding, new-born and pet photography, along with the more traditional landscapes. However, I tend to prefer a more story telling or creative style of photography. I particularly enjoy reportage, travel, festival and street photography. But what I favour above all are constructing and manipulating images using ICM (intentional camera movement), digital painting and overlaid photos. I tend to create either minimalist, abstract, detail or crazy busy photographic art.<\/p>\n I am so thankful that photography has come to my rescue time and time again. And I am so lucky that I have a creative outlet. I urge anyone who struggles with their mental health in any way, to find something creative (and\/or physical) to shift their focus towards.<\/p>\n This accomplished and widely published landscape photographer finds year-round dawn starts very therapeutic<\/em><\/p>\n Despite only starting to learn photography in 2018, Michelle Cowbourne has established herself as a successful landscape photographer. Her images regularly appear in the national press and she reached the finals of the last Weather Photographer of the Year competition. “It’s the focus on composition and all the settings, plus being on your own in beautiful places generally, that helps me deal with the stresses of work and family life,” says Michelle, who has developed a rewarding niche shooting sunrises around Glastonbury Tor.<\/p>\n\t\t Michelle’s images regularly appear in the press<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n “I can get very stressed and if I look out in the morning and the colour is forming or mist there I rush out and work is forgotten for an hour or so \u2013 and that feeling stays all day.”<\/p>\n Additional reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n Portraits of Mental Health Struggles<\/a><\/p>\n Portrait Photography can help your mental health<\/a><\/p>\n
\nDominic\u2019s story<\/h2>\n
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\n\u2018At first I did sports photography, then the northern lights etc, and it was just a hobby. Then I realised I could totally lose myself in what I was photographing \u2013 I\u2019d be up early doing macro for example, totally on my own and losing myself in the moment. It\u2019s the same with landscape and cityscapes \u2013 I like being on my own and totally escaping everything else. Focusing on the moment helps me relax and this carries on into the editing stage, sitting in front of the computer.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ISOLATION-Dominic-Beaven.jpg\")
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\nWorking in more crowded environments remains a challenge, however. \u2018I go to UK Shooters<\/a> events for example and there can be up to 30 photographers crowding around one model \u2013 though they normally have at least eight models.\u2019 For the future, Dominic hopes to specialise more in fine art photography. \u2018My advice to anyone facing mental health challenges is to enjoy yourself, don\u2019t be too hard on yourself and find the genres you feel the most comfortable with.\u2019<\/p>\nFor more of Dominic\u2019s work, see dominicbeaven.com<\/a><\/h3>\n
\nDeborah\u2019s story<\/h2>\n
\nWhile portraits had been Deborah\u2019s first love in photography, when she returned to taking photos she was more guided by how she was feeling. \u2018Some of my first images were of prisons and graveyards\u2026 deep, dark and poignant places. Recently I deleted a lot of these early images because
\nthey were reflections of the very dark place I was in.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Deborah-3.jpg\")
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\nDespite acknowledging the usefulnesss of social media for photographers, Deborah cautions against relying on it, or investing too much emotional energy. \u2018Social media has its uses, but the artficiality of online apps and filters being used to edit portraits and other images beyond recognition, along with some of the trolling, clique-iness and back-biting, can soon bring you down and outweigh the positive mental health benefits that photography brings.<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Deborah-2.jpg\")
\t\t\tFor more of Deborah\u2019s work, see www.artofeloquence.co.uk<\/a><\/h3>\n
\nAngi’s story<\/h2>\n
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\nConsidering that ME symptoms can include brain fog and difficulty with concentration, we wondered how Angi could always muster the mental energy and focus required for her exquisite work? \u2018It is a challenge, to be honest. On the rare times I go and do a landscape, my brain can\u2019t always work through what I need to do to get the shot, even though I know the process.<\/p>\nFor more of Angi’s work see angiwallacephotography.com<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n
\nEmily-May’s story<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\nDespite the physical and mental challenges she is facing being hit by a virus that scientists still don\u2019t fully understand, Emily-May considers herself \u2018truly blessed.\u2019 \u2018Having something I enjoy so much to focus on even when I don\u2019t feel like myself has helped me no end and I can\u2019t wait to see what the future holds.\u2019<\/p>\nFor more of Emily-May\u2019s work, see her Instagram account @ivelostfocus<\/a><\/h3>\n
\nWendy’s story<\/h2>\n
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\t\t\tFor more of Wendy\u2019s work, see twitter.com\/wendylouwhokh<\/a><\/h3>\n
\nMary’s story<\/h2>\n
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\t\t\tFor more of Mary\u2019s work see www.marymaynardphotography.co.uk<\/a><\/h3>\n
\nFobo’s story<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/fobo-1.png\")
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\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/fobo-3.jpg\")
\nFor more of Fobo’s work see www.artfotography.co.uk<\/a><\/h2>\n
\nMichelle’s story<\/h2>\n
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\t\t\tFor more of Michelle’s work, see www.visionsofsomerset.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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