Photography Zine

An Open Workshop and a Personal Response

This photobook was created during an open photography zine assignment. Participants were invited to explore a subject of their choice and develop their ideas through workshops and one-to-one tutorials.

One participant chose to use the project to reflect on her experience of grief following the sudden death of her husband. Through photographs made during walks over the course of a year, she explored grief, memory, social isolation and the changing natural world.

In the Participant’s Own Words

This project highlights the potential of photography to help individuals cope with grief and find solace in creative expression.

My photobook project was the first assignment I completed for the photography course that I began in September 2021. At the time Emilie was a lecturer on the course and was facilitating this assignment and supporting students through workshops and one to one tutorials.

For me the project became a deeply personal exploration of my grief following the sudden death of my husband in September 2020. The images that were included in my photobook were some of the many taken on walks between October 2020 and October 2021, including the period of the COVID winter lockdown. They tell the story of my personal journey with grief and to some extent, how this was compounded by social isolation. Photography became a way for me to absorb myself in nature in a mindful way, observing the seasonal changes around me even as I observed the changes in my own emotional landscape.

Emilie gave invaluable support to me throughout the project, generously sharing examples of her own grief related work. Emilie was able to signpost me to other practitioners who facilitate the use of photography as therapy through a mindfulness approach in their work with others. This enabled to place my own work within an established area of photography practice. Emilie also facilitated a practical zine/book making workshop. This inspired me to hand make my own book and introduced me to the skills required to do so successfully.

You can find out more about my photobook, and the research and process I undertook, by following this link to my project webpage.