Photography courses with a Difference
Well Image was founded by Vanessa Miles in 2020 as a response to the pandemic. As a photographer and teacher, she decided to take her courses online. These took the form of small, live groups exploring themes together, which acted as inspiration for an activities to do between sessions.
Vanessa had noticed that photography was an effective catalyst for change and chose five aims based on her experience. The aims are closely aligned with the NHS five ways to mental health: these are well-researched. Coming out of the pandemic, Well Image teamed up with charitable organisations that shared the same values to deliver online courses for those who found it difficult to leave their homes. Well Image has now worked with over 200 people who had self-diagnosed as having poor mental health. We discovered that for many, the groups became a life line, providing a calm space to explore their own creativity, and many described the workshops as life-changing.
We work with organisations to provide funded courses that are gentle and enabling, helping people focus on the positive and encouraging them to spend more time outdoors at their own pace. This has often led to people making new social connections and, as a consequence, meeting in person as photo buddies. From our experience, we have observed that when online courses are run in specific geographic areas, they are further enriched by participants seeing familiar subjects through the eyes of their peers. We have now incorporated this into our new ANOTHER LENS courses.
If you would like to read more about the positive changes are courses can have, click here for personal impact stories.