The Active Looking Project 2022/23
MAKE IT BETTER CIC
16 - 25 MAR
GRAYS WHARF GALLERY
WORKSHOPS
PANEL DISCUSSION:
THURS 16 MAR / 2 - 4
PHOTOGRAPHY MEET-UP
FRI 17 MAR / 10 - 12
FAMILY CYANOTYPE WORKSHOP
SAT 25 MAR / 10 - 12
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
This exhibition is the culmination of eight months of workshops around Cornwall with eighteen community groups and the Make it Better CIC community. Often personal, it acknowledges – as a large series of polyphonic photographs – the places, people and things that many individuals value.
The project’s title is adapted from the idea of ‘active listening’, a term coined by Carl Rogers and Richard Farson. They said:
‘Active listening is an important way to bring about changes in people. Despite the popular notion that listening is a passive approach, clinical and research evidence clearly shows that sensitive listening is a most effective agent for individual personality change and group development. Listening brings about changes in people’s attitudes toward themselves and others; it also brings about changes in their basic values and personal philosophy. People who have been listened to in this new and special way become more emotionally mature, more open to their experiences, less defensive, more democratic, and less authoritarian.’
Is it possible that this kind of ‘new and special’ focus can be applied to other senses? We walk down the same streets every day, but do we always take notice of changes? What happens when we actively look at the world around us? Can that, too, help us to create positive change?
The use of readily available smart technology has enabled many more people to take part in photographic activities. And so, armed with four iPads and a printer, Make it Better CIC enthusiastically visited community groups and organisations. They shared some technical skills and photographic principles and then went for walks. By offering photographic challenges, they encouraged people to stop and take notice of the every day things around them. The model of the five ways to wellbeing, New Economics Foundation, was used throughout to give context, helping individuals to consider their everyday activities:
Connect
Be active
Take notice
Learn
Give