Camera Companions: Why I set it up.....

I've alluded a number of times that the last 12 months have been a challenge. My love of photography, remote places and creating images that I am proud of has generally been a very positive to my mental health and wellbeing. I actually sought out solitude in the way I pursued passion: there is something naturally solitary about landscape photography: maybe it has something to do with wanting to create images that no-one else has because you were the only one there at the time? For me, there was also the creative process itself and I was convinced that was only possible if I persued it in a solitary way.

I felt like I was the only person on Dartmoor when I took this shot and I loved that.

In 2024, I had undertaken a couple of long trips in the van and thoroughly enjoyed them both......The Outer Hebrides and then Northern Italy for the Dolomites....wonderful adventures both of them.

So, full of enthusiasm, I embarked on another adventure in March of last year and headed to the far north of Scotland for more mountains and epic scenery and then things started to unravel a bit.

Now, we all have difficult periods in our lives, bereavements, relationship break-ups, financial worries, job insecurity amongst many other things...and most of the time, we deal with things and get through them.

For me, the loss of my beloved dog, Buddy, work related stresses and relationship struggles combined with being very much on my own (Northern Scotland is properly remote: you can drive for miles and not see another vehicle, let alone see any other people), found me suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of isolation and loneliness. This feeling wouldn't go away, even when I returned back to Devon. You plod on, because you think these moments will pass and most of the time they do; but for me it stuck and got increasingly difficult

Far from the Madding Crowd

So....fast forward through the summer of last year and I knew that my mental health was under some pressure, I still felt lonely, increasingly unhappy and wasn't doing anything about it. It took some outside events and some negative health issues to give me some courage to open up to a couple of friends and family that I was struggling: I needed some help. I have said before that I am lucky: I have some amazing friends and a wonderfully supportive family, but I had been reluctant to share my problems with them.

Not everyone has such a strong support network.

The upshot of going through this upheaval over the last 12 months has been a realisation that I am not the only person likely to be going through similar experiences and difficulties. Photography has helped me enormously over the years, but I have learned that I want to share this passion with others much more than I had been. I still like a certain degree of solitude, but having always been sociable and pretty outgoing throughout my life, the realisation that I was isolating myself from the very people I love and like was feeding into this loneliness. Being alone and loneliness are two quite different feelings.

Camera Companions is all about enjoying the remote places, without feeling lonely. Enjoying the company of likeminded people who share a love of the outdoors, and especially the process of creating images that you find compelling and interesting.

So why not join our next walk....the 19th of April for a walk along the East Okement River on Dartmoor: Beautiful woodland and a river with cascades and plenty of photgraphic interest. I will be leading the group and on hand to provide any help you need to create the images you want to. Open to anyone who enjoys taking photographs: your 'gear' isn't important, but do bring your creative desire. I look forward to welcoming you.

You'll find the full 'walk' details in the events section of this website