The 55+ Casual Photography Meetings

During Autumn 2022 and into the Spring of 2023, individuals aged 55+ engaged in six months of photographic storytelling at the Hollyhill Library. They became a community; exploring, exchanging and creating together using cameras from The Slow Camera Exchange collection. Workshop leader, Marcin Lewandowski, and participants, Eleanor and Martin, reflect on their experiences.

From the Lomography and plastic cameras, through even medium format portraits, accompanied by the soundtrack of the twin-lens Mamiya, to the large format Sinar, we got to create hundreds of photographs.

Within the workshop, we explored various new ways of looking at images. With great enthusiasm, the participants explored the possibilities of making visible rich stories in plain sight of Hollyhill Library.

The language of images is universal and film photography, given the paradox of its immediacy and great slowness, allows us to engage in the act of looking with care.

- Marcin Lewandowski