Community Workshops
My photography workshops are driven by a passion for helping individuals of all skill levels. I aim to foster confidence through participation and achievement while allowing them to express themselves in ways that broaden their experiences and build on their existing skills. My personal goal is to lead participants on new visual journey that inspires continued exploration and enhances their overall well-being.
Touchstone - approaching grief through creativity and action - 2025 (ACE NLPG)
I developed a pilot community project for the Platforma Festival '25 that explored a new way of approaching feelings of grief through creativity and action by using a unique process that led to an interaction with the sea. Follow the link to see reels, view photographs and hear the participants point of view:
The Hive - A Portrait of Norwich Road - 2025
I was commissioned by the Hive, Ipswich to guide members of the community hub in a 'street photography' project titled, A Portrait of Norwich Road. The ten photographers worked together over eight weeks using smart-phones and DSLRs to document the many businesses and people on the street. They used different styles of portraiture and themes such as reflection and juxtaposition to create striking imagery. It resulted in an exhibition at the Hive and a small tour of the work around the town. Click on the link to find out more:
'Jubilant!' 2025
I was commissioned to work with a group of thirty Year Five pupils, at a primary school in Stowmarket for the Jubilant Festival '25, an annual arts experience for young people. The theme this year was 'Roots'. Using artifacts and wood as image bases, I guided the children over four sessions, creating composite photographs that told their personal stories. By sourcing garden artifacts and wood from the Food Museum, we were able to make three-dimensional photographic 'artifacts' that were sited in the Museum's woodlands as a discovery trail throughout the Festival period alongside individual exhibition boards detailing their original photograph and personal testimony. Click on the link to find out more:
'Tell Your Story', 1 & 2 - 2024 - 25 - Social Prescribing Creative Wellbeing Workshops.
I was commissioned to lead two creative social prescribing courses, funded by North Essex and South Suffolk NHS. I designed the lens-based media outcomes on both of the courses, that assisted the students in expressing themselves through a combination o photographic imagery and animation. In the second series of sessions, we worked with poet Dean Parkin, to help the participants express themselves using the written and spoken word. The courses focused on each person's wellbeing and encourage positive change, by exploring 'the self'. At the end of the sessions, we held an art exhibition of their work in the Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich.
Refugee 'Women Only' Photography Workshop, commissioned by the Hive Community Hub, Ipswich, 2024
This wellbeing programme aimed to offer the group an opportunity to express themselves and explore personal identity using experimental photo techniques designed to be playful and absorbing - the ongoing exhibition at The Hive represents an amazing exploration of self-expression and resilience.
Friends & Networks, Photography Sessions - an Alternative Education Provision - 2024
"At the start of the year I wasn't in a very good place and was really struggling with school, the pressure and anxiety had got too much so I stopped going for my own mental health and wellbeing. I was really struggling to leave the house and wasn't getting much help outside of my family until I was offered this photography course through Friends and Networks. I was sceptical at first, anxious and quite scared but I gradually got more and more comfortable with the course and people that were there. This course has helped me with the way I thought about everything, the anxiety's of leaving the house, it's made me more confident, made me believe in myself and its also taken me out of my comfort zone. I have been able to express emotion through my photos and I have been able to show people the way I see the beauty in the world." quote from Phoebe
ESOL Smart Phone Photo-Montage - Theme: 'Identity' 2022
"Without really understanding how she does it, I’ve seen Gillian support young people who’ve never taken photography before to create beautiful images that also speak of the reality of their lived experience, their dreams for the future, and their reflections on their past. She is an exceptional artist with the rare ability to share her practice without ever compromising on the complexity or the quality of the work that she empowers others to create. "
Tony Casement - Head of Creative Communities - New Wolsey Theatre, Suffolk
The Blank Page Project - Suffolk Libraries 2022 - present
Testimonial: "Gillian is an exceptional artist and facilitator. Her unique creativity and expertise in relating to people of all ages sets her apart from the rest. Through her passion for her craft, she has a very special ability to adapt her work, and engage with everyone in her care. Her ability to translate her unique creativity into meaningful activities for everyone is second to none. By the end of the workshop, all of the participants have an immense sense of pride and achievement and leave feeling passionate to create more. Gillian is an incredible person to work with. A true gift."
Katie Puls - Youth Producer
Make Do and Friends - Suffolk Artlink - inbetween and during the Covid Lockdown's
Testimonial: "I have watched Gillian work in cold, draughty warehouses, cosy education rooms, walking groups around a village duck pond and photographing individuals outside a medieval church on such a windy day I thought the equipment might blow away. Wherever she works, Gillian has the ability to really engage her participants in the process of creating photographs. Her sessions are always well prepared, her range of materials interesting and - at times - unusual; she introduces her participants to new and challenging concepts of what a photograph could be - and they are always really pleased with what they produce."
Candida Wingate - Senior Project Officer
DSLR Photography Programme for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children - Suffolk County Council 2019
Testimonial: "The group of participants have been thoroughly engaged in viewing life through the lens, this practical element of the activity in itself provides an opportunity for them to totally immerse themselves in creativity - and aside from their everyday worries. All of the young people are producing the most astounding work with one or tow in particular showing a remarkable aptitude for understanding the medium of photography. The group have developed a close bond. They inspire and motivate each other, losing themselves in their creative endeavours. This we have noticed is quite unusual for UASC who often fear silence and the isolation of being alone."
Janice Connington - UASC Education Officer, Suffolk County Council
