Creative Community Engagement

“What does a good life look like?”

It’s a question I come back to time and time again in my participatory photography work. It might sound simple, but it’s a gentle invitation into some big, beautiful, and sometimes emotional conversations.

A while ago, I had the pleasure of working with North Yorkshire Council and POMOC in Scarborough on a Photovoice project built around that very question.

The participants – all part of the POMOC community – created thoughtful, powerful photos and narratives that captured their visions of a good life. Their contributions are now being shared as part of community engagement activities across North Yorkshire, feeding into the development of a new Health & Well-being strategy.

I joined North Yorkshire Council staff at pop-up engagement events in local libraries – including Scarborough, Malton, and Catterick. Using the Photovoice images as a creative, people-led prompt to spark conversations with passers-by about what well-being means to them.

I’m always looking for ways to make exhibitions more interactive and inviting, so I brought along my trusty deck of photo postcards. After chatting to folk about the exhibition, I invited them to choose a postcard that represented what their own version of a good life or well-being looked like.

The responses were honest, moving, and often surprising. I was flipping blown away by what people shared.

Photos – whether ones we take ourselves or ones we respond to – have a way of bypassing the surface and opening up connections. They help us express things that can be tricky to find words for.

And in a context like this, they add something deeply human to more traditional consultation methods like surveys and forms.

People stop, look, think, and share something of themselves. It might seem like a simple activity, but it’s one that needs care and sensitivity. Sometimes a photo taps into something deep and it’s important to meet that moment with respect and attentiveness.

Huge thanks to everyone who’s stopped to chat and share their thoughts and to the brilliant Shanna and Helen Williams from North Yorkshire Council for supporting this work.

Photovoice continues to remind me that creativity isn’t just an add-on. It’s a vital way of seeing, feeling, and connecting.

And when it comes to shaping health and well-being strategies, those are exactly the things we need to centre.