Photography Workshops at the garden with Sam Ivin

Hi, my name’s Sam Ivin, I’m a portrait photographer interested in people and social issues. I often run art and photography workshops when I’m making artwork with communities. It enables me to get to know the group of people I’m collaborating with. Hopefully, it gives participants a few photography skills and an opportunity to be creative.
I want to include nature in my work more, so in November I facilitated a photography session for each group at The Patchworking Gardens. Participants learnt about composition techniques, different photographers and basic camera controls. After that, they chose a colour at random, and were asked to capture at least ten images of that colour in the garden.



Once the images of colour had been successfully hunted down, people decided on their favourite image to print, and in less than a minute it was ready to frame! The garden was an ideal setting for this workshop. There’s such a wonderful variety of nature and objects on display to capture.

Everyone had their own unique perspective and it was interesting to see the different approaches to the brief from each group. Many people said they discovered smaller details or aspects of the garden they hadn’t noticed before – some even went to areas they hadn’t explored previously.
Aside from the strong images produced and the delicious cake shared, what stands out about my visits to the Patchworking Garden Project is the sense of calm the garden provides. There is a sense of peace and security you feel once you enter into the space.
I’ve had a really enjoyable few days at the garden, thank you to everyone for making me feel welcome. I’ll definitely make time to return!
