“Mindful photography is a tool to help us become more consciously aware of and connected to the present moment. Using our vision and imagination, with the lens of a camera or smartphone as an anchor, it is experiencing the process of creating photographs in a non-judgmental way, with curiosity, gratitude and compassion.
— Ruth Davey, Founder Co-Director, Look Again
I was sceptical but curious. Mindful photography. I love taking pictures, a selfie here, a sunset there. My wife though teases me over their quality. I thought, perhaps this session could teach me a thing or two. Going with the spirit for the week – surrender, submit – I decided to join Ruth’s session, after breakfast in Studio 1, on the Hawkwood Estate. As I entered, I saw Ruth talking to those who had arrived earlier. Dressed in a long, white, baggy shirt over tight jeans, her curly brown hair flowing over her glasses, she looked calm and peaceful.
We exchanged names and she asked us to take our seat. We waited for a few minutes and decided to start the session. We were six-seven of us. She lived close by for more than a decade. Having lived in Bristol, London and before that in Gambia and few other places as an international development professional, she called herself a citizen of the world. I immediately thought, what does that even mean. I let the thought go.
Ruth is the Founder and Co-Director of Look Again. She started the organisation in 2012 to bring together her love of photography with over 25 years’ experience in international and community development, inner city regeneration, the creative industries and social justice. Following a period of burnout, Ruth turned to photography, mindfulness and nature as part of her recovery - and what began as a personal healing practice became the foundation for Look Again’s internationally recognised, evidence-based approach to mindful photography. Ruth is a professional photographer, author of The Art of Applewood, a Fellow of the RSA, and a long-time mindfulness practitioner.
She said, “I found my voice here, at Hawkwood, for the first time I called myself a photographer. I organized my first exhibit of the photos here and conducted workshops for many.” She felt at ease and started to shuffle the sheet of photographs she had in her hand. She said, “get up. Close your eyes. Focus on you breathe and ground yourself. Feel the presence around you.” As we opened our eyes, she laid out the photos on the ground. “Pick up a photo that calls you,” she asked. “Don’t overthink, just pick one.”
One by one, we chose an image. Mine was a warm-vivid coloured slightly blurry photo of a young man seen through a transparent bottle. It looked mysterious. Some said their photos evoked – connection, empathy, beauty, sadness.
She said, “mindful photography was about getting in touch with our feelings.” She paused, and let the words hang there, for us to think and take it in.
She took us through several images, and her feelings when clicked them. “Next time you take a picture, remember what you felt then?” she remined. She gave us a little cardboard photo frame, size of our palm. She asked us to close our eyes and look through the frame.
After half an hour, we came out of the studio. Some were already restless with the wordiness and conversations. They excused themselves.
Outside, Ruth asked us to focus our gaze on the ground and see through the frame. “Look at any object, focus. What shapes do you see?” she enquired, as we played with the frame. Sometimes, bringing it closer, sometimes taking it away. I had picked up a torn leaf midst the gravel on the ground. Through the frame, the shapes around the leaf changed – sometimes a heart, another a balloon.
The next exercise was to bring the frame close to our eyes, like spectacles and do a 360-degree turn, slowly. In the process – pause, see closely – anything that catches our attention. Observe the colours. Look through the crevices of the concrete wall of the Stables. Recognise the different shades of green leaves, red flowers and the colourful bees.
“There is so much I had missed,” even though I went through that door daily, a few times. Something had shifted. The frame gave us perspectives. Ability to leave out the clutter. Be mindful of what was within the square. We were aware. Ruth reminded us, “be aware of the feeling, your emotions, smell, touch of the soft breeze, rain drops and everything around you.”
We started observing things. Our gaze shifted. So did the perspectives. The images – were no more random clicks.
She suggested, we take our phones and go around for ten minutes. “Observe. Listen. If something fancies you, take a picture.” As I walked in the garden looking at the trees – I felt I had got a new pair of glasses. I saw the light filtering the plants. The changing shapes of the tree and its foliage from different angles. The moving clouds and interplay of light and darkness. Many moods of the season. Presence of the birds, bees, insects in the tree barks and people passing through them, stirring things.
More I observed, my pictures became better, catching details which I missed. I played with different shades – noir, mono chrome – moved around settings and results were so different. Like a kid with a new toy, I was now walking around looking for moments. I was in touch with my feelings, my thoughts.
That was a very productive morning. Later when I posted pictures in the WhatsApp group for the fellows. Everybody was amazed and all praise for it. Just like Ruth, at Hawkwood, I discovered the photographer and later the writer in me. I kept thinking of my wife and couldn’t wait to hear what she would say. I sent some to her, and she was mesmerized, “your pictures are different, in fact very good, a whole lot better.” I smiled and thanked Ruth.
This post is from my time, July 20-25, 2025 at Hawkwood’s Writing for Change Retreat, where 13 Senior Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity from around the world gathered to write, reflect, and reimagine the stories we tell.
This is such an insightful read. Thanks so much for sharing.
Beautiful photographs. Something was clearly waiting to blossom in you that got watered at Hawkwood.