Editor’s Note: A Big thank you to Karen Merry for writing and submitting this article.

2020 will go down as the year the world changed. Coronavirus, Covid 19, Social Distancing, flattening the curve, unprecedented, unchartered are all words some of us would prefer never to hear again. Some of the stressors of daily life have been removed and replaced by new ones. Instead of the stress of the commute, we are working at home, supporting the kids’ education at home, doing the usual jobs that have to be done around the house. We have new stresses, like job security and planning for an uncertain future, concerns for health and well-being of ourselves and our families.
Humans are inherently creative creatures. Catastrophe can turn into something beautiful. Silver linings are everywhere if we just look for them. The canals of Venice now run clean and have aquatic life enjoying the quiet of lockdown. The hazy, smog filled cities now clean and deserted as we recognise that we can work from home and be productive. The gratitude of our pets that we are home and frequently accessible for love, pats and extra treats, even if they bark through Zoom meetings!

In this time of slowing down and spending more time with ourselves, there seems to be a collective breath that people are taking. It’s a great time to learn about mindfulness. Instead of spending time on the commute, we get to have a bit more down time.
Now, more than ever, we are aware that we need to take care of our mental health to make sure that down time is not lead to “down” time and rumination. With restrictions in place and exercise routines now consisting of walking or jogging around local streets, it’s a perfect time to take your camera with you to start a new mindful practice.

What is Mindful Photography?

The practice of Mindful photography is very simple. Pick up your camera and start paying close attention to what you notice. Look through the lens, consider the elements around you.

You can start with the phone in your pocket. Pay attention to light, shadows, colour, shape and texture and movement. What you choose to capture can help you to be more aware of your internal thoughts and express emotion when words fail.

Through the lens you get to see things on your normal walk that you might not have noticed before. Using your breath to slow down, you’ll find you are drawn to certain objects and subjects and this can create a greater awareness of how you are feeling in the moment.

Anchor your awareness in the present moment by framing your image.

Photograph it as if seeing it for the first time.

Allow the moment to be exactly as it is without judgment.

Can photography be good for our mental health?

Mental health professionals say yes. They define something as therapeutic if it enhances insight into yourself, promotes the awareness and expression of feelings, and moves you into new, more helpful directions. As we know, a picture is worth a thousand words. Many ideas, feelings and emotions can be captured and conveyed in one image. Psychotherapy has used pictures, drawings, paintings, images of all kinds as a method to decipher emotions for decades.
“Photography is a powerful tool for expression, enabling you to communicate experiences that may be difficult to communicate through language when you are in a dark place” Karen Merry, a portrait photographer at Merry Images and organiser of the Mindful Photographer commented.

Enjoying a career as a professional photographer for the last 14 years, Karen Merry found that there was a big crossover of psychology and photography. “Ask any photographer and they will tell you people can share deeply personal information about their self-image.”
Karen came to mindful photography when supporting a close family member through episode of depression. “The process of dealing with a broken mental health system broke me” she said. Unable to photograph people in the studio during a period of caring, she spent time practicing mindfulness through photography to beat the blues.
“Mindful practice can be very helpful for those who are challenged by mood disorders, anxiety and depression. I’ve learned about therapies such as ACT (Acceptance Commitment Theory) and (MSC) Mindful Self Compassion and found them to be very healing. Using senses as a grounding method, sight, sound, smell, touch and taste, I really resonated with the sight sense, obviously! I found working though those thoughts in a visual context works gave me psychological flexibility and really helped with resilience.” Karen commented.

Karen has set up a group called mindful photography group that can be found on facebook and encourages us all to get outside and use your camera to practice mindfulness. She also runs mindfulphotographer.org and has some great ideas on how to enjoy your iso times in your own backyard. The online classes will be free during ISO and available in May on your own device