Expanding Your Practice: Mindful application of Photography and Book arts
Next course starts: Thursday 6th November 2025!
FREE introductory session Thursday 16 October 2025 4-5pm UK time!
Please email me to reserve your place info@lynneconnolly.co.uk
More than Looking: photography, book arts, therapeutic approaches with Lynne Connolly
Expanding your Practice:Book Arts for Therapeutic Photography
Next course starts 6th November 2025 Online. Thursdays 6, 13, 20, 27 November 2025 4-6.30pm UK time (free follow up session to be arranged with group)
Early bird discount 10% off if booked by Sunday 19 October 2025.
Course – Expanding your Practice:Book Arts for Therapeutic Photography
An introductory four-week course for anyone who uses photography as part of their practice. This course will introduce you to approaches and skills in making book and paper structures. It is a short introductory course and is hands on, each session will explore a structure or set of booklets and their application to therapeutic approaches to using photography with making book structures to carry these ideas and images.
It includes a weekly live making session where I will guide you with a demonstration on the making of each structure. Each week you will make new structures for you to take into your own practice. Between weeks you will be encouraged to make your own version or add content ot it and share that with the group for the following week. Please do allow time during the week to do so as you will get much more from the course this way.
Who is this for? Anyone who already uses photography, or visual arts in a creative or therapeutic way for themselves, clients, or community groups.
Why book arts? Making book structures and ways to incorporate photographic images made through mindful and therapeutic practice brings the work into the physical realm of materiality and haptic experience. Bringing photos off the screen and out of the digital realm gives a physicality to the work and use of images. Material structures and use of paper is a sensory experience and this haptic element helps to become part of the process from visualising, creating, making and holding. Some structures can be made using preprinted materials, or blank to then add images, others can have interchangeable elements where photos can be added to or replaced, we will make a range of structures.
What will I learn? The course will introduce you to the utterly absorbing practice of book arts and making structures for photographs using simple elements of paper, thread, and sometimes glue. You will learn hands on skills in crafting book structures that hold images and/or writing. The course is designed with you in mind to expand your practice of using photography for mindfulness and therapeutic engagement.
The course will cover the following themes: simple narrative structures, creating connections, text and image, narrative and pauses, folded and stitched booklets, adding secret pockets, pop up elements, a changeable photo album structure.
How will I learn? The course is delivered online through Zoom, participants will be sent a materials and tools list. This will be easily accessible and many items/materials you may well already have. Each week we will have a short overview to introduce that weeks theme, the connection with therapeutic photography and making book forms. There will be live demonstrations and making together. I use an overhead camera on my worktop to help show the steps. Although these sessions are quite short there will be ongoing discussion throughout to make the practice element as relevant as possible to the application of mindful and therapeutic photography.
Sessions will be recorded and relevant information sent out between sessions as needed.
Who is running this course? More than Looking is an umbrella company established by Lynne Connolly to offer courses in well-being through photography and book arts. More than Looking started as a photographic mindful activity with students in 2014, and has developed into a creative and therapeutic practice.
About me:I am an established photographer and educator and have worked in community, further, and higher education in the UK and Ireland for many years. I have run workshops in photography, mindfulness, and book arts, online and in person. I currently teach in H.E in the UK, and also run workshops for the Royal Photographic Society, The Society of Bookbinders. I work with community groups in Northern Ireland and also the North West of England, supporting their group aims and wellbeing initiatives.
I have been lucky enough to use education as a way to navigate the experience of growing up in a a troubled city and difficult family background. This undoubtedly features highly in my continued relationship with education, teaching, sharing and supporting others to develop in their own areas of interest. I’m delighted at this stage in my life to move into a more holistic approach to learning and sharing knowledge, as well as through traditional means. I look forward to sharing and learning with you.
As well as academic qualifications at graduate and postgraduate level in arts and also social sciences, I have a PGCE in adult education, Mental Health First Aider, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy UK, and have completed my PhD in the use of memory, photography, and book arts in post trauma conflict of the troubles in Northern Ireland (2025).
I have recently undertaken professional development training with Ruth Davy of Look Again Mindful Photography Practitioner training, and have completed the PG Cert in Therapeutic Photography (with Distinction) at RGU. That along with my passion for photography and book arts, and life experience is what I have to offer for a relaxed and enjoyable way of exploring new skills and approaches …
When is it? The introductory course will run several times throughout the year, there will also be a further advanced course to continue building skills and approaches.
This pilot course ran in May 2025 read the feedback below.
The next cohort starts on the 6th November for four weeks on Wednesday evening 4pm – 6.30pm UK time. It is online and we will meet on Zoom. There is also a complimentary follow up session arranged with the group. This is a one hour get together after course completion.
What are the costs? You are invited to join the course using a variable choice of rates from £200-£400. This is a sliding scale to support access and also offer a fair rate for skills development and the course. As a guide:
£200 low income/part time, this equates to £50 per 2.5 hour session.
£275 – £325 waged full time
£350 higher waged/professional
£400 business/employer funded
You can also choose to pay in two instalments, half before the course start, and half before week 3 session. Aim to register at least one week before course start to allow for preparatory work and gathering tools and materials. Early bird discount 10% off if booked by Sunday 19 October 2025.
Please email me for details to reserve your place and make your booking payment info@lynneconnolly.co.uk
You will also need to provide some basic materials and tools, most of which you will have at home but further details will be provided.
Recordings and guidance notes will be made available to all participants.
Why is it a variable rate? I want it to be accessible to as many as possible and appreciate that every additional expenditure is a big decision for many. If you are struggling to meet the fee please get in touch, if you feel able to pay more you will also be supporting others.
What if I miss a session? Ideally you will be able to attend the sessions each week and engage in the activities as a group together. The making, sharing, and feedback on work is an essential part of the course learning and experience.
Sessions will be recorded and made available for participant’s individual use. Please note this is not for sharing but just for personal recap. A materials and tools list will be provided on registration, along with a detailed weekly structure.
All questions welcome please email me at info@lynneconnolly.co.uk
To secure your place please email with your name, email address, and chosen amount and I will invoice accordingly.
Feedback from participants in pilot course May 2025:
An absolutely fabulous course that explored not only the practical skills of bookbinding and book building but also how the artist book can be used to creatively represent artist ideas.
‘Lynne is a kind and considerate facilitator. I felt it was ok to work at my own pace with Lynne’s help.I enjoyed the immediacy of the making of the structures so we could see our own work come top life.It felt good to be making something with my hands in a lovely simple craft way whilst using photography to enhance the experience. I felt I learnt something about myself and what’s possible in a relatively short space of time’ Thank you Lynne for introducing me to the world of book arts.
Lynne is a hugely knowledgeable and patient tutor, guiding the group through numerous book structures, answering questions and calmly fixing problems. Her introductory talks on the works of book artists creates an inspiring context for making and exploring the book form, encouraging us to start thinking not only about the forms we’re making, but the ways we might use them to explore our own themes and interests. Really inspiring.
“Expanding Your Practice” has been so much more than learning the structure of bookmaking. Lynne’s online workshop gave me the tools to organise and contain a myriad of ideas into tangible, workable book-art projects. She creates and holds a wonderfully relaxed and supportive space for learning, which made the whole experience both engaging and enriching. It was inspiring to meet the other participants, share ideas, and be encouraged by their work as well. The workshop was exactly what I needed to propel my creativity forward. I can already see how learning the practice of book arts has expanded my own artistic process, and how what I’ve gained will add value to the photography workshops I lead. Many thanks, Lynne—I’m looking forward to continuing to engage with your offerings in the future.
I’m genuinely enthusiastic about this workshop. The combination of theoretical insights, inspiring examples of booklets of artists and the hands-on process of making our own was very stimulating. Even though I was going through a very busy time, Lynne’s calm presence, personal attention, and clear explanations helped me fully arrive in the moment. It felt almost meditative. Highly recommended!
