PersonalAs session 1 of a coaching programme, or on its own, a photoVoyage is a unique opportunity to step back, look at ourselves… and start talking.
Penny Millar
An individual photoVoyage session lasts 90 minutes
- The photographs are taken by Penny in natural light and comfortable surroundings. She has a special talent for making her subjects feel completely at ease, allowing her camera to capture real feelings and expressions.
- She downloads the photos on to her computer and edits them to the ones she feels are going to be the most useful for the voyager.
They look at these images one by one, and start talking about the different ‘selves’ they see. They look, talk, the ‘voyager’ reflects. There can be moments of emotion, relief and joy. Some voyagers don’t immediately like what they see, but they are encouraged to keep looking for the images that ‘speak’ to them, looking for the positive, and they almost always get to accept these photos as their ‘real’ honest selves.- After about an hour they will have selected the 10 photos that are the most meaningful to them. These are printed and put in a “book of their voyage”. Each photo has a facing page on which voyagers can write about what a picture means to them.
- This book is both a record and keepsake – a valuable tool to use for moving forward.
- Each voyager is given a cd of their 10 photos.
Penny’s deeply compassionate nature, coupled with her skilled empathetic listening created a safe place for me to come forward… her patience and gentle questioning helped me express myself, and when I looked at the photos, I began to see aspects of myself with a new gentleness and compassion.
CG, survivor of childhood abuse
I can’t say I’m always happy with how I look but am content that this is not the point of photoVoyage. I am just really happy to know what I look like.
A
I was afraid that my photo shoot had not captured a sufficient spectrum of emotional expressions… the photos do not show this… there is no artifice of any sort.
AJ