This course is now full, but dates for a second course starting September 11th have been released. Click here to book.
Join photographic artist Daniel Regan in this course that sensitively explores how we identify and visualise our lived experiences using photography, delivered online over 6 weeks.
What is lived experience? What is the value of communicating what it feels like to experience something?
Through a series of informative and collaborative sessions you will be supported to produce photographs that explore the complexity of your own lived experiences. This includes learning about other photographers who explore illness, disability and lived experience, as well as practical support from both Daniel and other peers in the group.
Some of the topics covered throughout the course are:
What is lived experience?
How do we begin to understand our own lived experiences?
What is the value of lived experience (for ourselves & others)?
How do we visualise our lived experiences?
What ethics should we consider when working with others?
About Daniel Regan.
For 20 years artist Daniel Regan has been using photography to navigate and process his lived experiences of mental distress. From photographs that explore his mental health struggles as a teenager, through to documentations of his mental health hospitalisations, commissions on self-injury and his experiences of racism, Daniel has not shied away from creating and sharing images that express deep vulnerability. His work has been shared in The Guardian, The Lancet Psychiatry, BBC News and shown in both UK and international exhibitions that champion the voice of lived experience.
For 15 years Daniel has worked as a creative facilitator supporting other people to visualise and process their own experiences through participatory arts projects that focus on health and wellbeing. In 2015 Daniel founded the Arts & Health Hub, a not-for-profit organisation that supports artists exploring health in their practice. Since its inception Daniel has facilitated over 80 peer groups for artists to develop their practice, including at The Photographers’ Gallery and The Southbank Centre. Daniel is currently the Lived Experience Representative for the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Arts Special Interest Group. Daniel lectures on both fine art and clinical courses exploring the intersections of arts and health.
Who is this course for?
This course is ideal for people who already have a grasp of the technical aspect of photography and their style and are ready to seek support in:
Understanding what their lived experiences mean to them, and how they’d like to work with them through photography. This includes developing their ideas around how to visualise elements of their lived experiences, whether that be illness, particular elements of their identity or experiences of trauma.
Pushing the boundaries of their practice by actively trying new ideas and receiving peer to peer feedback in sessions.
This is not a technical skills course.
Note: participants should understand that whilst this course may be therapeutic in its nature, it is not therapy — if you are in crisis please seek support from your GP.
About the Sessions.
Sessions take place weekly on Mondays from 7pm - 9pm (UK) on the following dates. You should attend all sessions:
5th June
12th June
19th June
26th June
3rd July
10th July
The sessions are run online using Zoom. Participants have access to recordings of the sessions until the end of September 2023. The course is open worldwide and delivered in English. Places are limited to 10 participants.
Cost.
£210
Q&A.
-
This course is for people attending in person (virtually). Recordings will be made to those who sign up and may not be able to make the odd session, but are not available entirely to those who can’t make any sessions.
-
One free place has already been awarded to someone on low income. Unfortunately we aren’t able to offer any further reductions.
-
The course is aimed at people who have a good technical grasp of photography. Daniel and the group may be able to advise on techniques, but this isn’t a technical course where you’ll explicitly be taught new photography skills.
-
These sessions encourage us to think about aspects of our lived experience and how we visualise them through photography. This could be difficult for some people and we encourage you to think about what support you have in place during and after sessions.
This course is not a form of therapy - you are responsible for your own care during and after sessions. If you are in crisis please contact your GP, crisis team or Samaritans.
-
Of course. The course is open internationally. The session times are UK time zone.