By being vulnerable together we came to see ourselves in more forgiving ways.

 

Here in the photographic studio you will find a selection of self-portraits made with Cristina’s methodology, authored by her in collaboration with participants, and a film by Amanda Ravetz and Huw Wahl documenting the project.

 

During the workshops Cristina invited us to use the camera as a catalyst and witness to our emotions. She suggested we choose an emotion such as despair, anger or fear and perform it to the camera. This allowed us to make contact with feelings we often bury or lock away.

 

In the studio, alone with the cameras, we took five images. Cristina talked us through our perceptions of these. The ones we disliked at first were often those we ended up liking best. We reviewed our self-portrait photos with the group, learning how others saw the person in the photograph.

 

We went on to take portraits in pairs. The instruction was to react and respond to each other – and not to speak! Finally Cristina invited us to make group self-portraits. We each decided how to arrange the other participants and place ourselves within the grouping. For some of us this became a chance to explore feelings of being in our families or friendship groups and for others to express connectedness with the new Wonderland group.

 

One of the things that kept coming up when we evaluated the project later was that pain has its own creative energy. There were moments of fear, love, humour, joy and hopefulness in doing this work. By being vulnerable together, we came to see ourselves in more forgiving ways.