Photography lets me see through my creative eye, if you like and it expresses part of who I am. It's where I can go to 'escape' from the stresses of life and just life in general. It helps me to stay away from those downward spirals that affect my mood and my ability to function 'normally'. We live in such a fast past world these days it's nice to be able to stop for awhile and just admire and capture the beauty that has been so kindly created for us to enjoy, photography allows me to do this. It's this new skill that I'm learning and it is so fascinating, I love it.
What does it mean to me as an OT?
Occupational therapists are concerned with promoting health and well-being through occupation. Behavioural scientists’ interested in how individual differences, personality, and lifestyle factors influence well-being have shown that in engagement in personally meaningful occupations influence happiness and life satisfaction. Photography is an occupation and so can be used to engage clients in this meaningful occupation, if of course it is meaningful and purposeful to the individual. Photography allows for exploration of the creative side and self expression, it stir up interests and motivation and a person can gain a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in creating something. Photography can also reduce the focus on ones’ illness and can reduce stress and anxiety by being engaged in something unrelated to the cause of these. Occupation gives opportunities and options that humans pursue to realize meaning, purpose and self-actualization throughout the lifespan. Humans need to do something and what they do is directly tied to the meaning of their day. “It is through engagement in occupation that an individual comes to know the potential and limitations of self and the environment and achieves a sense of competence and intrinsic worth.” Photography can contribute to these things.
Practical considerations: Am I able to engage in photography 2 hours a week? You bet!
Ambeince:
Under the human condition my photography fits with the heading of work, also known as craft. This is because I am creating something and it can have an end point. The most important aspect of work according to Hannah Arendt (1958) is, “it’s world making capacity” (p.9). It is about making an activity what we want it to be, rather than what it has to be for survival. Ansel Adams said, as cited in Scott, A. (2011. p.6) “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” An artist’s effort is often referred to as ‘a work.’ So it is clear that photography is creating something.
Arendt, H. (1958). The human Condition. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press.
No comments:
Post a Comment