The weekend before last I prepared a special workshop for a lovely client, Marie, from Sweden. It was a workshop to focus the senses; taking the time to connect with everything around us, listening, smelling and tasting. My workshops used to be much more about doing; creating flat lays and flower arrangements etc., but since writing my book I’ve felt much more drawn to helping people connect to the essence of their creative impetus rather than striving to achieve any pre -imagined photo goals. Process is hugely important to all creative development and it’s impossible to move forward without it so I’ve been working to find ways which allow people to feel more comfortable experimenting with their senses. I offer new experiences which make them stop, reflect and connect to the inside of their heads; the abstract processing and the less literal translation of everyday life, because in my opinion this is where the kernel everyone’s of creativity lies. I don’t really like the idea of quick ‘ How to be creative hacks’, but I do like the idea of infinite amounts of creative experimentation. Creativity always needs time to ferment. However, experiments are very personal and some people feel that if anyone sees their ‘workings out’ they’ll be exposed as a person not doing or thinking about it properly. I want to reassure everyone that experiments, however basic or complex, have massive creative worth and that there is no proper way to any of them . They may not be instagram gold, you may not want to show them to the world, or even your close friends, but they will always engage your mind and move you forward even if it’s 5 years down the line. Connecting to our senses on a much deeper conscious level is how we can learn about the world even if it’s not how we talk about the world.
For the workshop I prepared lots of sensory experiences as well as cooking a lunch which I had carefully chosen to highlight different scents, textures and sounds: mushroom and fresh tarragon soup with hot buttered toast, quinoa with capers, feta and fresh parsley, fresh basil and tomato salad, and nocellara olives. ( Later on we also had a warm, fresh banana cake.) After lunch we went for a woodland walk and it was very obvious after our morning session that we were hearing so many more sounds than usual, smelling far more of our natural surroundings and generally taking everything in, in a much more conscious, slower and meaningful way. Taking photos is part of the workshop too, particularly when we went out to the woods, and I was able to share ways I use to capture and enhance the essence of something very simple, ways to combine photos and videos to give a sense of time and movement, how to make colours pop, how to create double exposures and easy ways to put cohesive visual Stories together.
The images below show a selection of experiments from the morning and our afternoon walk.
After the workshop I became fascinated with the challenge of capturing sensory moments on film, so I’ve been collecting snippets for a couple of weeks and have made this film:
…and if you would also like a bespoke sensory workshop please feel free to drop me an email at 5ftinf@gmail.com or by using the form here
