Art Therapy-Photography

The struggle against anorexia or any eating disorder is never easy, and can take a long time.

I mentioned on my art therapy - sculpture page,how much working with wood has helped me to overcome an eating disorder.

The other thing I got into when I met my husband was photography. Our wedding present from my parents was a digital camera each, and (I know it's sad!) we spent most of our honeymoon out walking and looking for stuff to take photos of.

I've always had a camera, and always been snap happy, which was expensive. Of course, digital photography stops that mattering, so I have a field day now.The truth is that I've always wanted to be able to draw and paint, but I haven't ever followed it up, and for me, photography goes a long way to fulfilling that creative need.

I think the thing is with photography in relation to anorexia, or any anxiety based illness, is that looking through the lens gives you a different perspective on life.

You start to isolate items from their background, understanding how significant they are in isolation, but also how they need their natural background to give them their meaning and context.

It's the same with us when we think about it. We're different when we're on our own, but the truth is that we need our environment - other people in order to see ourselves as part of the wider world.

And we are part of that world, however isolated we may feel sometimes. That's in our heads, not in anybody else's.

Taking photographs is also exciting...and it gives you a sense of control and autonomy.

I think the taking up of time is an important part of this as well. Anything which we enjoy doing that helps to move us away from the physical actions such as binging or exercising, can only do us good.And the truth is that there's so much free information on how to improve your photography on the net that becoming a pro is well within our reach.

We've been entering our stuff on internet competitions in the last few weeks, and we've even won a couple of prizes!

So get snap happy - it can only do you good!