Taking photos is one of those hobbies that people can access in a good number of ways. From snapping away on holiday to learning the intricacies of developing film or editing digital pictures, photography can bring a huge amount of joy. For care home residents, photography can offer many benefits, from a fun activity to a memory aid and starting point for reminiscing about the past.
Photography as a hobby
Older people and others living in residential care can be limited in the type of hobbies they can carry on pursuing if they live with physical mobility issues, or are unable to get out into the community much any longer. However, picking up a camera (or smart phone) and taking pictures is something that most people can do, regardless of where they are or how well they can get about. Care homes can encourage this creative hobby by organising photography walks around the grounds or garden, scrapbooking or photo album making craft sessions and visiting speakers. There is a huge amount of information and tutorials online too to help people improve their camera skills from the comfort of their care home.
Photography as therapy
Photography is an inclusive hobby that pretty much anyone can try. You can do it alone, or as part of a bigger group. Hobbies like these are vital for supporting strong mental health. They give us a purpose and means to have fun, as well as staving off loneliness and encouraging us to maintain curiosity about the world around us. People living in care often have a lot of time on their hands, and taking photos is an easy way to spend an enjoyable hour or two. Remembering the different steps you need to take to do to get a great picture is great for cognitive exercise. Plus, you can challenge yourself by selecting different subjects each time or creating collections based on chosen themes to display in an album or multi-frame.
How to get started
If any of your care home residents express an interest in photography, it is relatively simple and inexpensive to get hold of a few second-hand cameras. People can also use their smartphones to take high quality images and share them with friends and family online. It is up to your residents what they take pictures of – the garden is a great subject choice during the summer, or they could ask fellow residents if they would like them to take their picture. Always make sure that everyone involved is happy to be photographed and have given their permission to share their images. There really is no limit when it comes to being creative with photography, nor a ‘wrong’ way of doing it. Encourage your residents to give it a go and see where their imagination takes them!
Photographs and memory
The good thing about photographs is that once they have been taken, they are not going anywhere and will not ‘go off’ or break down. This is especially true of the traditional analogue photography that involved developing film and printing pictures out to put in albums. People took care to display their images properly, adding labels and arranging photographs in order. Now, with most people switching to digital photography, there is much to be said for still taking time to save, download and print out photographs so the memories they contain are not hidden inside cloud storage or your computer. Encourage your residents to share their photo albums with others and tell the stories behind the images inside. This can help stimulate people’s memories and remind them of happy times spent with family and friends, or on holiday.
Conversation starters
Finally, as discussed above, photography and pictures can stimulate conversations and provoke happy memories. This not only helps keep the brain active, but it also offers a great starting point for social interaction. If residents want to get to know each other, but are not sure how to strike up a conversation, a book of photos will normally get things started and uncover some common ground. They don’t even have to be taken by those involved in the conversation. Whiling away an hour or two looking through a beautiful coffee table book of photos can be hugely enjoyable for anyone. It can bring back memories of the subjects covered and even prompt a debate about what other people looking at the book might have chosen to take picture of – and why.