Photo therapy

About the photo therapy workshops

Rosy Martin ran a series of workshops from 1 – 23 May 2010 which used photo-therapy techniques.

'Photo-therapy' is about using photographs to bring self-awareness and healing. A therapist may help a participant to talk about and reflect upon her values and beliefs, using photographs as a springboard for exploration.

In this project, photographs taken by or of the participant prior to the workshops may offer insights into feelings and relationships which have affected their view of their ageing process. Looking through family albums, for instance, can help participants to tell stories about their life and their family history and dynamics, and can offer clues as to why certain early experiences continue to affect them and their feelings about ageing.

Re-enactment photo-therapy was developed by Rosy Martin (the workshop facilitator) and Jo Spence in the 1980s and was a central approach in these workshops.

Working in pairs and in the group, women explored issues and memories which affected their feelings about changing and ageing. They were asked to find clothes and props to help them re-enact these issues and memories in front of the camera.

Women re-enacted scenes that had occurred in the past, or scenes which could have occurred in the future. They worked in collaboration with a partner, asking each other what they wanted to be captured by the camera.

The photographer-therapist was there to give encouragement and support. Difficult and sometimes painful memories can come to light in these sessions, so it is important that the women know that they are in a secure setting, and that Rosy has a great deal of experience working with people to explore such issues.

Photo-therapy is also playful! It presents an opportunity to have fun in performing different roles and women were encouraged to use their bodies to express their feelings. In sharing with others, we can tell new stories about ourselves and envisage new possibilities.

Rosy Martin

You can see examples of Rosy's work, find links to her exhibitions and essays and more information about her practice on her website: http://www.rosymartin.info

'The Performative Body: Phototherapy and Re-Enactment' in Afterimage (Nov-Dec 2001), an essay about photo therapy written by Rosy Martin.

Commenting on the project, Rosy said: "It was turning 50 that made me want to explore how the dominant representations of older women showed only stereotypes of decline and redundancy. I wanted to challenge this, and find ways of representing my ageing self through my photographic practice in a subversive, playful and resistant way.

"I made two exhibitions on 'Outrageous Agers' in collaboration with Kay Goodridge. We also ran workshops with groups of older women.

"I am looking forward to running workshops working with women here in Sheffield to explore how we feel about how we are represented, and how we can make interventions into these heroine/victim scenarios - to be our own complex, strong and vibrant selves, and to make these images of ourselves visible."

Outputs

Film

A group of older women met in a series of six day long workshops, led by Rosy Martin. They were invited to make, then talk about, their own alternative photographic diaries on age and ageing.

By using phototherapeutic techniques to reframe how each looked at her own narratives of self and ageing, scenarios were chosen to re-enact. Working in pairs, the photographer offered a therapeutic gaze of nurturance and permission giving to the sitter, who performed her stories, using her chosen clothes and props. Each narrative included images of transformation and self-nurturance.

Then the roles were exchanged. Images which challenge stereotypes of ageing were created, and the whole process enabled each participant to find ways to transform her views of herself.