James Baldwin is a professional theatre maker/writer and Create artist. As our new project concept Create Live! came together we worked with James to develop a creative online radio drama project for young carers in Ealing/Hounslow.
Create Live! is Create’s online, interactive project initiative developed to reach participants during the lockdown, offering a creative lifeline to the most vulnerable children and adults in isolation.
“Keeping the work rooted in the principles of face-to-face workshop is central to developing a workshop for Create Live! delivery. The key is flexibility and being able to think on the spot. You need to have more than enough material, which is a potential difficulty when you’re working online. You can generate 100 hours’ worth of games and activities but how many of those games will work when all you have is a small screen? Drama games are often about improvisation and being able to read people’s body language, so adapting drama games to work online took some ingenuity.
“It’s about being able to embrace the technology to achieve your aim: to have fun and make the participants feel valued.”
James Baldwin
“When technology becomes a faff you have to prioritise the workshop goals and keeping it all fun. Throughout the planning of the workshop I was asking myself “why are we doing that game?” and “what are we trying to achieve?”. Making a group connection is tricky when you’re disconnected physically. So, it’s important to prioritise things that might seem small but make the participants feel comfortable. For example, letting them know that their name is on the screen and making sure they have it displayed how they want it. It’s about being able to embrace the technology to achieve your aim: to have fun and make the participants feel valued.
James Baldwin leading one of the workshops
“What does translate really well from face-to-face to online, is making yourself the example. If you want people to be a bit daft you have to demonstrate that by being super daft. And if you want people to be serious, you demonstrate that by being more serious.
“The young people were interested in so many things: COVID-19, power dynamics, global warming, magic. Being able to harness all these ideas as a facilitator and enabling the young people to write a script about the things that matter to them, but also offers an element of escapism, is important.
“So this script took the idea of global warming and it took the idea of COVID-19 but it used the idea of wizardry and sorcery to take these ideas into a magic realm. The young people are able to express what they want about the pandemic and all the things that are important to their lives, but with an element of escapism because you’ve changed the rules of that world to incorporate magic and wizardry and witchcraft.”
CREATE LIVE! ONLINE DRAMA PROJECT WITH JAMES BALDWIN
Create Live! is Create’s online, interactive project initiative developed to reach participants during the lockdown, offering a creative lifeline to the most vulnerable children and adults in isolation. Over three days in April 2020, Create’s professional theatre maker/writer James Baldwin delivered an online drama project with young carers from Ealing and Hounslow.
We spoke to young carers who participated, Create artist James, and Brentford FC Community Sports Trust’s Young Carers Project about the online drama project.
CREATE ARTIST JAMES BALDWIN
“Keeping the work rooted in the principles of face to face workshop is central to developing a workshop for Create Live! delivery. The key is flexibility and being able to think on the spot.
“Throughout the planning of the workshop I was asking myself “why are we doing that game?” and “what are we trying to achieve?”. Making a group connection is tricky when you’re disconnected physically. So, it’s important to prioritise things that might seem small but make the participants feel comfortable.
“The young people were interested in so many things: COVID-19, power dynamics, global warming, magic. Being able to harness all these ideas as a facilitator and enabling the young people to write a script about the things that matter to them, but also offers an element of escapism, is important.”
Hear the young carers perform their drama with James Baldwin
YOUNG CARERS
Feedback from young carers about the online drama project.
“I really liked the One Minute game and doing the acting. It was an excellent workshop.”
“In all parts [of the workshop] I tried to think outside of the box even in Pictionary. In the making of our story I used more of my imagination. I also used my imagination to cry when we did voice acting for the recording.”
“I enjoyed working with others as everyone had a different personality and I feel like everyone had a great time. It was nice to see people’s faces even if it was just through an app. I think the way Create did it was very good and very productive for everyone.”
“[James] is very funny. He’s light-hearted and isn’t afraid to be out there and bold.”
BRENTFORD FC COMMUNITY SPORTS TRUST’S YOUNG CARERS PROJECT
Reflections from Kathryn Sobczak – Young Carers Project Coordinator. The Project provides support and advice to young carers living in the boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow.
“The social interaction side of this project was crucial, even more so than usual. Many of our young carers are more isolated than ever without school, particularly if their parent can’t leave the house. This session offered the young carers a creative release and enabled them to talk to their friends and in some cases make new friends.
“The young people were encouraged to look at the stories from their own perspective and the work was completely led by their ideas. They worked together to create the story, teamwork was encouraged throughout and the young people shared their ideas with each other.
“The young people’s confidence and self-esteem grew over the three days. The drama games allowed them to become more comfortable and the smaller groups enabled them to grow in confidence. The young carers were very happy with the final piece of work and had a real sense of accomplishment.”
Create Live! is Create’s online, interactive project initiative developed to reach participants during the lockdown, offering a creative lifeline to the most vulnerable adults and children in isolation. Over three days in April 2020, Create’s professional photographer Alejandra Carles-Tolra delivered an online photography project with young carers from Kingston.
We spoke to Mary, a participant, Create artist Alejandra, and Kingston young carers about the experience.
MARY’S EXPERIENCE
Mary* (13) has been caring for as long as she can remember for her younger brother Harry* (11), who has Down Syndrome and diabetes.
These are her reflections on the project:
“Over the last three days, we’ve been looking at different techniques for taking pictures, experimenting with different objects, and expressing our creative sides by taking photos. Doing a creative project over video call was actually really good because of the break-out rooms where we could work in smaller groups. It was a lot easier to use the technology than I expected it to be. The only difficult thing is WIFI for some people isn’t always so good. It was a really good project for being stuck inside!”
* Name of young carer and her brother changed to protect anonymity
“Developing and running a Create Live! project was a very interesting challenge. At first, I worried it was going to feel very impersonal, that I wouldn’t be able to adapt to each person’s needs in a virtual room, but that wasn’t the case at all. The way the work translated over video call was surprising in a really positive way. It felt much closer to an in-person Create project than I was expecting.
“By the end of the project it felt as though we had forgotten that we were not in a real space together; it didn’t feel strange that we had spent five hours in this virtual room. I think that was possible because the project combined the participants’ physical spaces and the virtual world: we were constantly reminding ourselves of the real world around us by taking photographs. Collaboration is always at the centre of my work and during this period of increased isolation it felt essential that the young carers could collaborate and share their creative work and ideas with each other.“
“The online photography project was a great success. Create Live! gave the young carers a break from their caring roles and time to socialise, have fun and be creative. The young carers learnt lots of new skills; they learnt how to get the most out of each photograph and how to use their phone camera capabilities to their fullest. Through the project the participants’ confidence, skills and self-esteem were developed. The young carers were very proud of their work and keen to showcase it to the group.”
ALEJANDRA CARLES-TOLRA ON RUNNING A CREATE LIVE! PROJECT
Alejandra Carles-Tolra is a professional photographer and Create artist. As our new project concept Create Live! came together we worked with Alejandra to develop a creative online photography project for young carers.
Create Live! is Create’s online, interactive project initiative developed to reach participants during the lockdown, offering a creative lifeline to the most vulnerable adults and children in isolation.
Below, Alejandra reflects on the experience of developing and facilitating a Create Live! project with young carers from Kingston.
“I asked the young carers to work with the personal things that were around them, to look at their homes with new eyes and find inspiration in these everyday things.”
Alejandra Carles-Tolra
Alejandra leading a Create Live! workshop
“Developing and running a Create Live! project was a very interesting challenge. At first, I worried it was going to feel very impersonal, that I wouldn’t be able to adapt to each person’s needs in a virtual room, but that wasn’t the case at all. The way the work translated over video call was surprising in a really positive way. It felt much closer to an in-person Create project than I was expecting.
“In normal circumstances, when I am in the same room as participants, the first day of my workshops is always focused on building trust between the participants and me and ensuring that everyone feels comfortable, encouraged and not overwhelmed by the creative exercises. The worst thing would be if someone felt, ‘oh this is not for me, I’m terrible at photography’ and felt discouraged. I wanted to create the same atmosphere over Zoom.
Alejandra Carles-Tolra, from her The Light Coming In series
“I begin all my workshops by asking people to be aware of the surroundings, to notice the space we’re in and to try to find light and inspiration there. The way I managed the transition online was to think of the current situation and the spaces the participants were in. I asked the young carers to work with the personal things that were around them, to look at their homes with new eyes and find inspiration in these everyday things. It doesn’t matter what tools you have, it’s a way of looking at the world. This approach can be adapted to any space and participants can take these skills and this mindset anywhere.
“Sharing our work online, after three days creating together, was very special. Everyone seemed very happy and very proud of the work and the time that we had spent together. It was wonderful that family members and loved ones were able to join them on the screen. In the past not everyone has the time to come and look so that was really special.
“By the end of the project it felt as though we had forgotten that we were not in a real space together; it didn’t feel strange that we had spent five hours in this virtual room. I think that was possible because the project combined the participants’ physical spaces and the virtual world: we were constantly reminding ourselves of the real world around us by taking photographs. Collaboration is always at the centre of my work and during this period of increased isolation it felt essential that the young carers could collaborate and share their creative work and ideas with each other. This was made possible by using break-out rooms, virtual ‘rooms’ where smaller groups of participants could meet and discuss inspiration and ideas. Although there were some technological challenges, on the whole the project was a great success. I will definitely be taking some of the ideas generated from the virtual project into my work going forward.”
Photographs from Alejandra’s isolation photography series The Light Coming In.
Dame Evelyn Glennie has been a patron of Create since 2007. Performing worldwide with the greatest orchestras, conductors and artists, Dame Evelyn Glennie’s solo recordings, which now exceed 40 CDs, are as diverse as her career on-stage.
A double GRAMMY award winner and BAFTA nominee, Evelyn is a composer for film, television and music library companies. She was awarded an OBE in 1993 and has over 100 international awards to date, including the Polar Music Prize and the Companion of Honour.
How have your early experiences with sound or music shaped you as an artist?
Evelyn Glennie on the family farm
I am a farmer’s daughter so when I was little my orchestra was the farm. I was hearing so many different types of sound on the farm: machinery, livestock, weather, my little green barrow with the squeaky wheel. I remember cycling around the farm with tins in my pockets and putting different things in the tins: different amounts of stones or different sizes of stones or pennies. I would go rattling around the farm scaring the animals.
I think those early experiences did form, perhaps without me knowing at the time, a kind of sound landscape that needed patience. I was in an environment where you can’t force anything and it’s very much dependent on natural circumstances. I think that patience really served me well as a musician and being open to those sound qualities has allowed me to experiment. As a percussion player, I’m dealing with so many different instruments. Valuing both expensive and inexpensive things has also shaped me. I can get a lot of enjoyment using found objects and allowing my imagination to run wild.
Asking people to think about their sound environment and how connected they are to that can actually play a part in what you create. I’m always thinking what my sound environment is.
“Listening, for me, is not connected with sound. Listening is paying attention to all the ingredients that are around you.”
Evelyn Glennie
Can you tell us a little bit about how you began to hear sounds through your body?
I think it’s different for every person. As a youngster, I was wearing hearing aids and still assumed that music or sound went through your ears. I was desperate to put my hearing aids up to have everything louder and that affected my sense of touch. I knew that I was a relatively sensitive musician but I found that my sensitivity was being thrown out the window because I was so desperate to hear it how I remembered.
This started to change when my percussion teacher struck a drum. He just stood still for a moment and then said, “my gosh the drum resonates! There’s the attack, then the journey of that sound and then it disappears”. He said, “well maybe our bodies also resonate” and he started striking a timpani [kettledrum] and asked me to place my hands on the wall of the music room. I could feel the resonance with a part of my hand. He then played a timpani of a different pitch and, low and behold, there’s just a subtle difference in how I felt the resonance. My teacher began making the intervals much closer until there were just tiny, tiny differences. I was learning the difference between hearing something and listening to something. I was listening to the impact and then giving myself time to digest the resonance.
It was as though the sun came up from the horizon. It lifted this frustration that was building in me. I had no idea I would ever become a professional musician in those days, but I knew that if I couldn’t find a way then music would simply just not be for me. So I was very grateful for that avenue and possibility.
Evelyn Glennie – credit Caroline Purday
We love your Book ‘Listen World’. Who did you write it for and who do you want to read it?
The Listen World book is bringing together a lot of the writings, speeches and presentations I’ve done. It’s targeted towards teenagers because I think that’s an age when we can close ourselves off in many respects and yet we’re eager to look out and be open. There’s this tussle going on with our feelings when we’re teenagers. They need to be listened to. Even if there are very few words coming out of teenagers, ultimately they want to be listened to. That doesn’t mean you need to agree with everything they say but listening is at the crux of development. I felt the book might be useful to them.
What is the difference between listening and hearing?
Listening, for me, is not connected with sound. Listening is paying attention to all the ingredients that are around you: listening to the environment that you’re in and how it is connected to yourself and the people you’re with. Hearing is something that can be measured, but listening … someone can be as deaf as anything and they can be an excellent listener. I think that’s the main difference for me. Sometimes if I give a masterclass, you can have a youngster who picks sticks up and you can almost immediately sense what the sound will be by how the sticks have been picked up and what the posture of the body is. All of this plays a part in what you think the sound might be before anything is struck.
That’s why the work of Create is so incredible, because it’s bringing people together in their environment and listening to what they need and what’s inside them. That’s what I try to do as a performer.
“It was as though the sun came up from the horizon. It lifted this frustration that was building in me.”
Evelyn Glennie
What advice would you give to someone who might feel limited about their ability to participate and get involved in the world of creativity?
I don’t know what advice I would give but I do know that we can all feel limited. We can feel slightly doubtful of ourselves, even in musical situations. I’ve been in this industry for so many years but I have doubts sometimes. It’s just taking that first step. As a musician, if I’m contracted to learn a piece of music I begin by just looking at the first phrase or the first bar. Even if it takes half an hour, you can build from that first step. It’s the persistence and the realisation that you can handle it in bitesize bits.
Evelyn Glennie on marimba – image credit James Wilson
Why do you think creativity is important in terms of wellbeing and self-expression?
Creativity is the connector between one person and another. If someone has been thwarted in their creativity, the ripples from that are enormous. It’s unforgivable really. I think we’re born as creative people, you just have to look at a tiny little baby and how they manipulate their bodies and how they become curious to everything and how everything is approachable. That’s what I want to keep as a musician: I can’t imagine being a musician and not being curious or experimenting. Creativity isn’t about right or wrong, it’s about finding out about yourself and your environment and other people. That’s why I love the name Create, it’s such a great name because it’s easy to say, it’s easy to read and it’s so relevant to all age groups and all demographics right across the world.
For many people, music is something you listen to in your free time. But as a professional musician what do you do to relax?
When I deal with music it’s as my profession so overload is something I try to avoid. In my spare time, I like to garden, go to antique fairs and get on my bike and go off exploring. I also like to metal detect. I found a little brass buckle once in a garden of a 250-year-old cottage. I’m trying to persuade my oldest brother to let me metal detect at his farm at the moment. I find lots of old bits. Bits of gates, horseshoes galore. Nails of all different sizes. I absolutely love that you can do it in all weathers. You can do it by yourself or with other people … it’s a bit like being a musician really.
You’ve been a Create Patron since 2007. What inspired you to be part of the Create journey?
I really resonate with the work that Create does. We all own creativity and we’re all creative. But what we don’t all have is the opportunity to express our creativity. That’s where Create comes in and that’s what inspired me to become a Patron.
Create connects with so many different people and I find that really interesting. You develop projects by listening to the people you’re connecting with. You really make sure you understand who you’re connecting with to get the best long-term results. I love the fact that Create plants a lot of seeds and I feel really privileged to be connected with the charity.
We all have one thing in common: we listen.
Evelyn interviewed Create CEO Nicky Goulder for the Evelyn Glennie Podcast. Listen here, or watch part of the interview here.
HOLLY REVELL ON QUEER IDENTITY PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS AT METRO CHARITY
Holly Revell is a Create artist and professional photographer specialising in queer performance, portraits and documentation of transforming identities. Holly’s work is archived at Bishopsgate Institute.
Below, we hear from Holly about the experience of facilitating our queer identity photography workshops:
“In January and February 2020, I ran a series of workshops with METRO Charity’s LGBTQ youth group Zest, made up of young queer people aged 12-16. As soon as I met the group, I could SEE their queerness. It was wonderful to step into the future where gender felt fluid and visible. I hadn’t worked with such young queer people before and I was excited to find out about their stories. Queer culture is so fast-moving, I was curious about how relevant my work would be to these young people.
“I started the project by showing participants some work from my archive of queer performance photography, introducing them to some of the icons and trailblazers such as David Hoyle, Scottee, Jonny Woo and co, Ginger Johnson, Travis Alabanza and Chiyo Gomes.
Sabah Choudrey, People Like Us, 2019 – copyright Holly Revell
“I was impressed by how engaged and interested the young participants were in the performers and the photographs I was showing them. They had a thirst for learning about their history. Is this because queer history is harder to find, lesser-known and untaught I wonder?
“What was intended as a short introduction became a more central part of the workshops: each week we would take inspiration from queer icons. I soon realised that they know their history and are extremely passionate about it! There were some great moments, from a 14-year-old trans person talking about Alan Turing and a discussion about Philip Schofield’s coming out that day, to a 12-year-old boy pulling out a book titled ‘queer icons’ from his school bag.
“I expected them to know Rupaul’s Drag Race as that has become so mainstream, and they did, but I was heartened to find that they were also interested in more avant-garde examples of drag performers. I was able to broaden their horizons by showing them performers who were resisting Rupaul, performers who were ‘not allowed into the club’ and who criticised its lack of inclusivity.
“In the practical photography sessions, we had participants emulating some of my most iconic images such as ‘Ginger Johnson – Breakfast’ replacing the milk with sugar, which they poured over themselves – getting messy like true queer artists do and acting out scenarios about homophobia in the office.
“We had a queer wedding with all its drama and affairs being performed for the camera, a David Hoyle- inspired self-portrait made by a 12-year-old boy and a gay soldier’s funeral where the union jack flag was replaced with the rainbow flag.
“I helped set up a series of beautiful images inspired by a participant’s relationship to their safe space in the cupboard and how they’d grown both physically and in confidence. I showed them images of Claude Cahun who they put me in mind of. This person seemed so shy at first but really opened up and embraced the workshops.
“Some participants also created a hilarious video made in the style of a YouTube make-up tutorial. This was loosely inspired by a Divine David video I’d shown them previously and by current trends such as Rupaul – it was both amusing and interesting to hear afab (assigned female at birth) non-binary young people paraphrase ‘the snatch game’ and its misogynistic undertones.
“Overall, this series of workshops was a huge success with many laughs and some beautiful images made during the process. There were different personalities in the group, some of the young people natural performers and very confident with their gender and sexuality. Others were very shy and self-conscious, preferring to be behind the camera taking more natural candid photographs.
“When I was planning the workshops, I had a good idea of what I wanted the young people to do. I wanted them to create a powerful series of portraits. However, I soon realised that the participants would dictate the results and they were a lot more playful and candid than I had anticipated. I had to let go of my ambitions and remember how powerful and queer these fleeting moments captured with blur and colour were.”
Create Live! is Create’s online, interactive project initiative developed to reach participants during the lockdown, offering a creative lifeline to the most vulnerable adults and children in isolation.
Over three days in April 2020, Create’s professional photographer Alejandra Carles-Tolra delivered photography workshops with young carers from Kingston. Mary* (13) has been caring for as long as she can remember for her younger brother Harry* (11), who has Down Syndrome and diabetes.
These are her reflections on the workshops:
“Over the last three days, we’ve been looking at different techniques for taking pictures, experimenting with different objects, and expressing our creative sides by taking photos. Doing a creative workshop over video call was actually really good because of the break-out rooms where we could work in smaller groups. It was a lot easier to use the technology than I expected it to be. The only difficult thing is WIFI for some people isn’t always so good. It was a really good workshop for being stuck inside!
“I learnt that when I put my mind to something, I can create good work and really improve my skills.”
Young carer Mary
“I’ve learned a lot about using light in photographs from the workshops. Alejandra was a really good teacher and I learnt a lot from her. She was good at getting everyone really involved in the workshop and taking turns. I would like to continue to work on being more unique in my photography and adding a bit of a spin to each picture. I learnt that when I put my mind to something, I can create good work and really improve my skills.
“Lockdown has impacted my caring role a lot. When my parents have work calls I have to look after my brother. In the morning I get up and help out with managing Harry’s diabetes. I’ve been caring for him my whole life, or since I was two as that’s when he was born. I don’t find it too hard because I’ve never known anything different. I find looking after him quite easy now. Since the lockdown, the biggest changes are being around family a lot more. It’s really nice but sometimes it can get quite stressful with the whole family in the house and Harry.”
“It was really good to work with other people. It was good to see what other people can produce and see their take on things. It was a really great experience to meet people who are also young carers and know how I feel. It was really good to meet everyone and find out their ideas about this project.”
Name of young carer and her brother changed to protect anonymity
A message from our founding CEO Nicky Goulder on Create’s response to Coronavirus – Create Live!
Just two weeks ago, on Tuesday 24 March, Create’s office – in an eerily silent Moorgate – was locked. Other members of the Create team had been working at home since the previous Thursday, battling the now-familiar trials of VPN, WiFi and Zoom. As I walked home across London Bridge, not knowing when I would next be able to unlock that door, my head reeled with the changes that had taken place: we were entering lockdown; every Create project had been postponed; and our participants were facing months of unrelenting isolation, loneliness and hardship.
I founded Create almost 17 years ago at my dining room table. It has since grown into the UK’s leading charity using the creative arts to empower lives, reduce isolation and enhance wellbeing. Throughout the year, our dedicated professional artists run creative arts projects up and down the country with the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children and adults. We bring together primary school children in areas of deprivation with disabled adults. We offer young and adult carers vital time away from their responsibilities. We take workshops into prisons and adolescent mental-health units. We work with older adults experiencing loneliness. These examples – just a selection of the groups of people we work with – highlight our dilemma. To protect vulnerable people and the NHS we must all socially isolate. But how do you respond when reducing isolation is one of your central aims?
The last fortnight has arguably been the busiest I have ever had since starting Create in 2003. I joked with our Chairman last week that, had I told him that I had a new project concept that I wanted to launch in six months’ time, he would probably have said I was being over ambitious and we should allow a year. But 14 days! Knowing that coronavirus means increased isolation and hardship for our participants, I knew we had to find a solution, and there was no time to waste. The Create staff team and I have been working around the clock with a small group of our artists to design and pilot a new way of working.
CREATE LIVE!
A Create Live! trial workshop with the Create team
After extensive consultation with our community partners, trial workshops and many hours of planning to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our participants, we have Create Live!. This new project concept using an online platform will deliver high quality, live, interactive, creative workshops with groups of participants that will be fun, build skills and reduce isolation. There have been technological teething problems but the feedback from last week’s trial workshops has been incredible – now more than ever creativity can be a powerful tool for enhancing wellbeing. We still have a lot of work to do, but we’re getting there.
Today, Create Live! launches with a group of young carers in Ealing and Hounslow, who will spend three days writing and recording a new radio play (and playing heaps of drama games, of course) with our actor/playwright, James Baldwin. Next week we’re set to run three 3-day projects (drama, music, photography) in Brighton, Hillingdon and Nottingham. I’m so proud of the Create team, who are working flat out to innovate, find solutions and help our community partners support their clients at a time of extreme need. For our dedicated, talented freelance artists, we are providing high-quality work that both gives them an income and enables them to do what they love: inspire, empower and upskill our participants.
In just two short weeks, we have evolved to become part of the solution to the increased isolation, loneliness and boredom – to say nothing of missed opportunities to be creative – being experienced by our participants, some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children and adults in the UK.
There is still a lot of work to be done and the coming weeks and months will be an unprecedented challenge for all. But our work has never been more important.
MEET COLIN: CAN PHOTOGRAPHY IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH?
Can photography improve mental health? Most of us have heard the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” and increasingly research suggests that photography can improve mental wellbeing.
Our creative:discovery project was developed in collaboration with Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham and is funded by Reed Smith. Over one block of six weeks, participants explored different photographic styles with our professional photographer Alicia Clarke. Colin told us his story.
“Taking part in Create’s photography workshops has had a big impact on my life. Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham is a really important place for me. It helps me a lot. I started coming when my doctor recommended it. I suffer with anxiety and depression and I get flashbacks, like a bit of PTSD, I wasn’t in the army or anything but I had some bad experiences.
“I didn’t really get a lot of interaction before I started coming to MIND and I didn’t really have friends I could talk to. I was a bit of a loner and depressed for a long time. At first, I joined the walking group and after a while I really started to enjoy it. I liked getting out to new places and having people to talk to. When I first heard about the Create photography programme I just ran and asked if I could give it a try. I did actually have a panic attack in the first-ever [workshop]: we had to pick stuff off the ground because we were doing sun prints and I’m a bit germaphobic. Thankfully, one of the Create volunteers helped me out and let me direct them so I managed to get some really good prints that day and I did really enjoy it.
“Photography has helped me to break out of myself and stop being stuck in my room in front of a screen with depression all the time.”
Colin
“I like photography, it gets me away from the usual thing like being at home, TV and games. It’s nice just to get out and do something creative. It has given me a bit of a purpose really. I decided to save up and buy my own camera after the first photography project that I did with Create. I wanted to keep taking photos before the next project. I’ve always liked the idea of the old Polaroids and I thought I would get an Instax camera because they are really reliable. I go out on a Wednesday or Sunday with my mum because I’ve got a bit of anxiety issues. When I’m out I like taking close-ups of flowers and animals. It’s like an escape. Photography has helped me to break out of myself and stop being stuck in my room in front of a screen with depression all the time. It has given me a purpose to get away from it and to start doing something creative for me.
“In September, after the first Create photography project, I got an email from someone at the Lansbury Micro Museum. It’s an exhibition space in Poplar that the V&A organises. They wanted people’s collections for an exhibition so I handed in a couple of Instax photos on the off chance when they were opening. Then they asked for me to send them a few more because they wanted them in the museum!
“I got to choose how to have the photos up and someone at the museum wrote a piece about them and me (Colin from Poplar). They were there for about a month. It was my first year actually taking photos so it was a bit of a shock. I was also given some complimentary tickets to go and see the Tim Walker exhibition at the actual V&A, which I really enjoyed.
“There was a closing event party and they opened the museum one last time. People were coming up to me and stopping me and complimenting me on my photos and that was quite nice. They liked my photos, they made a big fuss about my rainbow photo. Someone did say to me that if I ever saw them in the market they would like to see more of my photos.
“I’m really glad that Create is running another series of photography workshops at MIND. We did sun prints again last week and actually I wasn’t too bad in terms of anxiety. I’m out every week with my mum, taking photos in my own time. I’m looking forward to trying some more prism photography, I’m going to try using squares and diamond shapes and maybe using magnifying glasses for different effects.
“Photography gets me out and creativity gives me a purpose. I enjoy doing something creative for myself.”
Follow Colin on Twitter and Instagram to see more of his photography.
Follow Create on Twitter and Instagram to see more creative work from our projects.
Contagious, the creative and strategic intelligence service for the creative industries, has chosen Create as its charity partner.
Last November, Create CEO, Nicky Goulder, was invited to speak at Contagious’s flagship event, Most Contagious. She talked with a passion to an audience of 800 about the importance and power of creativity for empowerment and wellbeing.
Hear the talk given by Nicky and Contagious Co-founder Paul Kemp-Robertson below:
