Through Our Eyes: Insights from a pilot participatory photography and creative writing project
- Borough: Tower Hamlets
- Organisation: Learning Unlimited
- Topics: art, civil society, community life, mental health, older people
Who we are
Learning Unlimited is a community interest company specialising in adult language, literacy, numeracy education, and community learning. We pride ourselves in being creative, innovative, and participant-led.
In 2024, we ran Through our Eyes, a pilot participatory photography and creative writing project with older Tower Hamlets residents at the Whitechapel Idea Store. Building on the success of our award-winning English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and photography project, Picture This! supporting migrants and refugees learn English, we recognised the potential to adapt and trial the methodology in a different context.
I really enjoyed doing it. It was lovely meeting other people in the ESOL class - for them to ask us questions and us to ask them questions
Loneliness had been identified as a significant issue with the older community of Tower Hamlets and the council was keen to explore ways to address it. In autumn 2024, we collaborated with Idea Store Learning and 'Prime Time', a group of older residents at Whitechapel Idea Store, to run this pilot project.
We encouraged participants to take the lead with our guidance and support through creative photography and writing activities. Using both old and new photos, they shared their stories, feelings and reflections on topics like housing, health, living costs and community.
It has made me look back at my life and realise I am more lucky than I thought
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Our key insights
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Building trust takes time, which can make short, participant-led courses challenging. The project truly began to flourish midway through, when the project’s purpose and impact were fully grasped and the space felt safe to be creative, share photos, memories, narratives and perspectives.
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The smartphone (with its camera and album) is an underutilised tool for supporting older adults – digitising old photos for personal enjoyment and equipping them with the skills to share with others. As one participant put it:
…instantly lifts my spirits at the touch of a button
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Collaboration is key — looking out for other initiatives and finding creative ways to bridge divides. In this project, uniting Prime Time and the ESOL class was a standout moment.
- Participatory photography is a versatile tool that can unlock hidden narratives and perspectives, develop new skills and support well-being and community engagement across diverse contexts.
Thoughts through photos
On the back of the project, we created a Practitioners’ Guide with ideas for activities and top tips. For a showcase of the work, visit our Padlet and the below links:
- Our East End – a selection of photos and texts
- Our NHS and assisted dying
- Tony’s travels
- Immigrants by Maureen
- Winter fuel payments
The impact of our work
Taking and sharing photos builds understanding, empathy and community. Nowadays nearly everyone has a smartphone and this can be an incredible tool for learning, a pocket-sized treasure trove of windows into people’s lives, stories and creative potential.
We didn’t know exactly where this project would take us, and its outcomes surprised us, but that’s the beauty of participatory work. The collaboration between the two diverse community groups highlighted the potential for innovative partnerships. Photography, as a form of self-expression, naturally leads to creative writing and allows stories and perspectives to travel across time and space, reaching people beyond the project itself.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to expand this work—engaging with more older adults, collaborating with new communities and exploring fresh ideas and partnerships. There is incredible potential for research, advocacy, and wider impact, from reaching new groups to influencing decision-makers. This is just the beginning.
The changes we would like to see
The project highlighted the need for:
- collaboration between community services to create richer programmes that can improve the lives of Londoners
- the use of more community-led creative approaches to listen to Londoners and amplify lesser-heard voices
- increased funding to support more participatory projects like this to engage communities, amplify their voices, improve well-being and social cohesion.
To enable this change, we and our community needs:
- funding to do more similar projects and offer training to facilitators/volunteers working with communities
- more collaborative networks to be built to enable richer programmes.
Find out more
Get in touch
If you have any questions about Learning Unlimited, you can get in touch at [email protected].
You can also email the Project Lead, Sarah Sheldon, at [email protected].
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