You are a creative photographer, amateur or professional? You simply love photography as an art and are looking to purchase awesome prints for your home or your office or perhaps you may be tempted to join a workshop? We have gathered for you a list of events for this year. 

Time to start planning!

Source and more info: https://www.photoworkout.com/photography-events/

It is an established fact in our modern society that pictures can have the most powerful impact on the mind and that this power is being used on us all, and constantly so, with advertising and propaganda. From acknowledging this tremendous impact on the minds, it is child-play to figure out that pictures can also be used as tools to motivate and inspire; that they can serve a therapeutic purpose.  

The thing with photography as therapy is that it concerns people on both sides of the camera: the photographer and the person who looks at the final picture. For both photography has proven to help, in particular with stress, with depression and anxiety, with Alzheimer and dementia.

The One Project, a photography community for people suffering from depression and anxiety defines Therapeutic Photography as involving “taking, analysing and using photos for the purpose of personal healing, growth, or understanding, whether done consciously or unconsciously. By actively constructing, exploring and reflecting on photographs by pairing it with creative writing, you are able to learn more about yourself and how you see the world.”                                                                                                                            

It seems that lots of people do believe in the therapeutic power of photography if only on Pinterest, you can find boards such as 562 Best Health & Wellbeing images in 2019 .



Photography as Self Therapy for Stress

• Funny pictures

With laughter being the best medicine, funny pictures will most likely rank number one as stress busters. Imagine going home to look at some funny photos you have framed: people you love caught in a silly moment, your goofy pet or any humorous shot you may treasure. 

• Photos of Nature 

Are you aware that just looking at photos of Nature could be enough to lower your work stress levels? Try reading the garden section of a home magazine!



Photography to Fight Depression and Anxiety

I was pleased to find out that one photographer has saved himself from depression thanks to his camera!

Bryce Evans calls himself living proof of how photography can save your life. Bryce is now on a mission to bring more awareness to the therapeutic power of photography. He too contributes to The One Project. Frankly, I am pretty sure that Bryce is only one of many who has found well-being in photography.

Here is what can happen to you when you take your camera outside:

According to Bryce Evans, “Photography can be a connection to your subconscious mind, helping you to discover powerful personal insights about the cause behind your depression. Often the answers we seek externally are found within us.”

Photography is not just about making good photos, it can also heal. When you go out there with your camera or with your smartphone, you get a chance at finding beauty around you, which you would never notice otherwise.



Photography with People with Alzheimer and Dementia

According to the Journal of Aging Research, there is abundant evidence that emotional events can be preserved in the memory of patients with Alzheimer and Dementia and of anyone with memory deficits. With this in mind, it seems quite a logical thing to do to rely on the use of photos to evoke memories and stir emotions but also connect and engage with loved ones

Photographer Laurence Aëgerter is part of a project to provide an image-based therapeutic tool to improve the well-being of patients with memory deficits through brain stimulation. She lends her art to work in collaboration with neurologists, gerontologists and psychologists. Her work has already won her an award on the Netherlands.

Sources: 

theoneproject

sciencealert

thealmight

Journal of Aging research  J Aging Res. 2011; 2011: 409364. Published online 2011 Jul 21. doi: 10.4061/2011/409364

laurenceaegerter

“Bellies”, as titled by photographer Christina Houser on her website is about pregnant women’s bellies and how they celebrate the dramatic period of transformation of their body and their life, how they nurture the ultimate creation of a new life. This is no time for hiding underneath layers of cloth anymore but rather for feeling gorgeous. Let’s face it, Maternity or Pregnancy Photography has become a trend with mums and the family too.

Maternity Art – How did it start?

I reckon that painted (later sculpted) pregnant women appeared on cave walls when hunted animals’ drawings did. It is understandable both subjects occupied centre place in the life of humans and pregnancy was and still is a fascinating event.      
                                                                                                      
With the evolution of society and its beliefs, the belly had to hide and for women who wanted to celebrate motherhood, artists had to wait till the late 14 hundreds to dare paint pregnancy, in full dress of course. For a long, long time, such portraits were not of any such women like you and I (or your wife if you are a male reading this) but rather of madonnas and queens. Did you know that Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was very much likely pregnant when she was painted? This was found out using infra-red scans that revealed her maternity garment.         
                                                                                               
Fast forward to modern days, Gustav Klimt in the early 1900s painted two explicitly heavily pregnant women in profile, Hope I and Hope II those were not portraits though. 

Along Came Demi

Demi Moore gracing the cover of Vanity Fair’s August 1991 became a legend and an icon of pregnancy portrait photography. Although the nude picture was labelled “too shocking for the newsstand” by many, the printed portrait started a revolution and transformed the way people reacted to pregnancy. The belly came out of hiding in embarrassment to be celebrated with glory.

A number of famous women have since had their portrait taken while expecting their baby:

Beyonce on a lavish couch or standing Venus-like “I have three hearts”; Heidi Montag in a magical forest; Alanis Morissette swimming under water; Christina Aguilera wearing nothing but a big biker’s jacket; Kate Hudson, Mariah Carey, Pink (I love it!), Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian (of course), Kelly Rowland, Cindy Crawford, Shakira, Britney….

Those stars of the show business have definitely lead the way for all women to want to chronicle and immortalise the most dramatic period of their life on print.

For pictures of stars’ pregnancy portraits, click here 

Getting Ready for your Maternity Shoot

More mothers-to-be are celebrating their growing bellies in print, with the help of professional photographers. 

Scheduling Your Maternity Shoot?

You will want your belly to appear in full shape; for this, the recommended time seems to be around 35 weeks into pregnancy, when you are not too heavy and feel comfortable to pose. When you reach 30 weeks will be a good time to schedule your shoot with the photographer.

You Are Expecting Twins or More!

A multiple pregnancy will make your belly look bigger earlier, so plan your shoot to be around the 24^th week.

The preparation leading to the actual shoot will definitely be exciting: choosing a style, an outfit (formal or glamorous, or no outfit at all), perhaps a theme, a pose (still or with movement, facing the camera or not), a venue… Will the future mum model alone or with an earlier child? Will she make it a family portrait too? Will the print be in colour or black and white?

Mum, this is your most important staring moment after your wedding, so make it what you want it to be (reserved or over the top), feeling beautiful and relaxed; make it a moment of joy.

Have FUN!