A Photo-A-Day, an unlikely act of self care
Exploring the benefits of photography and the practice of photo journaling
In today’s blog, I’m going to explore why we love taking photos, the benefits of engaging with photography and how it can help those struggling with their mental health.
From BeReal to Instagram or Facebook, we’ve been capturing and sharing our lives online through pictures for years. So, whether it’s 1 or 899 (the total amount of posts I’d shared on my personal Instagram before I logged out over a year ago), there’s something we just love about getting the perfect snap.
My husband loves cameras. He’s been documenting his life through pictures and videos since he was a child. I think he must remember getting his first camera as a kid like it was yesterday by the way he describes it. He uploads a clip or photo to his social media most days and even though I’m not posting anymore, I still take photos with my smart phone regularly. Some of them I print off, most of them I don’t but something keeps me snapping.
In order to gain a different perspective, I spoke with local Photographer Natasha Boorman, Tash for short, to find out a little more about her experience of being behind the camera as a professional Photographer. Tash has experience with mental health difficulties and has struggled with both anxiety & depression over the years. She advised that photography helps with this.
Tash’s quotes will be spread across this post in italics. All of the pictures you can see are Tash’s work which she kindly shared with me for the blog.
Tash has been a Photographer for over 10 years. She started working in a portrait studio at the age of 18 after studying photography at college, almost by chance.
“So I got into photography unintentionally, I actually wanted to be a Product Designer … but the course was dropped so I had to pick another subject and was advised by people to take photography. I don't know why, as I was never able to take a decent photo in my life! That being said it actually turned out to be my best subject and opened me up to a new skill I clearly had hidden.”
For Tash, photography plays a massive part of her life as her job and as a primary hobby. When asked if she felt photography has impacted her overall Wellbeing, Tash explained that it brings up a variety of lovely feelings for her, including peace, a sense of calm and relaxation as well as excitement at times. Many people experiencing mental health issues such as depression will likely be all to aware of how fleeting these positive emotions can be during low times.
“When doing photography for myself, I find it helps with my mental health, mostly when I’m doing ‘milky way’ or ‘star’ projects. It gives me a sense of calm and wonder. A great word for this is Novalunosis”.
Novalunosis (Definition – the state of relaxation and wonderment experienced while gazing upon the stars).
Tash reflected on her time during the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns and how photography helped her manage. This was a difficult time for most, when despite being given more time to self-occupy (something many of us crave more of generally), many people, myself included, struggled to engage with activities in our own immediate environments that were creative and meaningful.
“I feel that during lock down, photography was a way to keep me busy and kept my mind active by trying to think of creative projects to capture in and around my home. I love capturing almost anything if I can see a photo from it that provokes a feeling or tells a story or even if its unusual.”
As well as being a great way to engage with your inside space, photography is commonly associated with nature and being outdoors, the benefits of which are highly evidenced for our mental and physical well-being. Photography gives as a great reason to get out there, get moving and get active.
“It does get me out the house and getting fresh air and hopefully some sunshine - if the British Weather allows!”
Photography as a task also encourages us to engage with the world around us and focus on what’s going on in a specific moment. This is another way of practicing good old mindfulness.
“Mindful photography is the art of capturing narrative in a single shot, halting and freezing time and, importantly, revealing how we see things…Capturing that instant in a photograph can help us focus on our relationship with the environment and the changing state of the subject positioned in front of the lens.” - Jeremy Sutton Ph.D
As well as writers like Jeremy Sutton flying the flag for photography, it’s benefits have also been formally researched by a range of academics with different backgrounds. One area that I commonly noted when researching for this blog was in fact it’s impact on mental health.
Milasan (2024) identified that when a collection of individuals experiencing mental health difficulties were introduced to the task of photography through workshops & reflective groups, four key themes were identified. These were, forging social companionship and camaraderie, intra-personal reflection and self-awareness, connection with nature, and photography as an occupation (activity). One participant of the research project described a feeling of stability and inner balance when engaged in photography after many years of battling with schizophrenia. Milasan’s group also identified that photography was an activity that challenged them cognitively and gave them a period of time focused on something meaningful which could be connected to different opportunities in the future (hobbies, crafts, storytelling, used a way to make an income).
Linking back to Tash's earlier comment regarding all those positive feelings she associates with photography, Kurtz & Lyubomirsky (2013) reported that when students were asked to engage in mindful photography by capturing subjects that were meaningful to them and then discussing them in class, the process was found to increase happiness.
In Brewster & Cox’s 2018 study, photography as a self-care tool was explored in depth by shadowing a selection of people that engaged in daily photo journaling on social media, much like my husband does. They concluded that ‘a-photo-a-day’ was shown to be a simple practice that enhances well-being with it’s positive affects arising from the way people come to attach meaning to it and connect it to other practices. “Photography in this instance was described as an active process of meaning making, in which a new conceptualisation of well-being emerges”. Capturing daily rituals for example - your morning walk to the bus stop, your meal prep or the view from your window.
Since starting this blog I've been trying to take photos of my environment and daily activities a little more and its made me take note of some of the smaller details in my world I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been focused so intently. The new leaves on a plant, the steam from the kettle and the thicker whiskers on my cats. I find a bit of peace and appreciation for the little parts of my world each time I take a photo in a mindful way now.
I also think I understand my husbands passion for camera collecting!
And now you hopefully know a little more about the benefits of photography as a meaningful activity Tash has a few words of advise for anyone hoping to start out:
“It’s worth it! I have found it has opened up so many opportunities to meet like-minded people, gives motivation to go out and also allows you to focus on other things…a bit like escapism. Also don't let people tell you need the most expensive kit or that you can’t do it, photography is a creative and expressive hobby for everyone.”
So what are you waiting for? If you’ve got a smart phone - why not start your own ‘photo-a-day’ project today? And if anyone asks why you've started taking hundreds of photos of food or cats, or plants, you can say Occupational Therapist told you to.
As well as being a seasoned wedding photographer Tash also takes beautiful photographs of nature and run classes focused on capturing the night sky at it’s best known as "‘Milky-Way Workshops”. You can take a look at her beautiful work through the following platforms:
Website: njbt photography | Wedding Photography
Instagram: n.j.b.t.photography2019
