How to use Photography for Emotional Wellbeing with Guest Natasha Johl

Whether we're scrolling, posting, working or playing, photographs play a huge part in our daily lives.

But, all too often, taking photos - or being in them - can feel like a means to an end.

When was the last time you picked up a camera, or used your phone, to capture an image that truly moved you?

Join me and my guest artist and Mindful art photographer Natasha Johl as we explore how to use photography to create emotional wellbeing.

Natasha shares how her passion for photography led her to swap the urban jungle for the Colombian rainforest in her quest to cultivate a deeper connection within herself - and create photographic art that reflects this.

And tune in for Natasha's insights and top tips for how viewing our Midlife through the lens can enhance our mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

Connect with Natasha

https://sanctuaryartstudios.com/

https://www.facebook.com/tash.johl

https://www.instagram.com/sanctuary_art_studios/

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Midlife Unlimited, the podcast for women who want more. I'm your host, Kate Porter, the Midlife Metamorphosis Coach, and I know what it's like to feel stuck navigating the midlife maze. I've looked in the mirror and thought, who is that woman? So Midlife Unlimited is here to let you know you are not alone. You don't have to put on a brave face and put up with it. You don't have to play it safe. Midlife Unlimited is all about ripping off that mask and telling it like it really is. Nothing is off limits because together there's no limit to what we can achieve. So, welcome to today's episode. Whether we're scrolling, posting, working or playing, photographs play a huge part in our daily lives. But all too often taking photos, or even worse, being in them can feel like a means to an end. When was the last time you picked up a camera or used your phone to capture an image that truly moved you? A mindful moment that spoke to you. If you're ready to start viewing your midlife through a new lens, see what I did there, then this episode is just for you because I'm delighted to be joined by my guest today, Natasha Joel, artist and mindful art photographer, to talk about how to use photography to create emotional well-being. So welcome, Natasha. It's fabulous to have you here. Hi, Kate. It's fabulous to be here. Thank you. Now I just have to listen to listen, share with the listeners something you said to me before I press record. Because it's like slightly, I won't say envious, but yes, I will. Where are you and what background noises might we hear?

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Well, at the moment I'm in the deep rainforest in Colombia, and sometimes we might have the jungle choir go off. So we've got a lot of kind of insects in the background, you know, that lovely tropical sound.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Well, I hope I hope the microphone does pick it up because that will really add to this. Because an alternative title to our episode could literally have been how to swap the urban jungle for the real thing. Because obviously, well-being has taken you on quite a journey, hasn't it? And you're going to be sharing your love of photography and how you've literally created a new life based around that. Um, and your top tips later on. But photography, what is it? What is it about it that just fires you?

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Well, I think I the reason I really love photography is it's because it's a it's a creative art form if you get into kind of the art side of it, and it's actually very accessible to all of us. So I love it because you don't necessarily need to have a lot of um art um education, you don't need to know how to draw. Um, I've always been a very creative person, but I can't paint, I can't draw, I can't sculpt. So I kind of originally felt a little bit left out of the kind of art world until I kind of really got into picking up my camera, realizing that actually um nowadays um photography is a form of contemporary art and it's actually becoming more and more popular um every day. So a lot of uh amazing photographers are now around that you can see in the um galleries and all over the world. So I love it because it's accessible to all of us, and now even more so with with the phone, you know, people don't even need a camera nowadays.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

We could all aspire to being creative with paint and and crayons and all sorts of you know, I don't know, Macrami, all these sorts of things. But as you said, with a photograph, there's there's no right or wrong, and it's so personal because it's an extension of our uh what we're seeing, isn't it? What's moving us, what's I mean, the thing I take pic on my walk this morning, I was taking pictures of this gorgeous tree, the bark, because it just spoke the textures, and someone watching driving past must have thought I was absolutely bonkers. But I was really enjoying myself.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

But I think that for me is exactly what it's all about, Kate. That's exactly what it's all about. It's about experimenting, it's about learning to play again, it's about that kind of um yeah, the curiosity of looking around you and seeing things in an literally in a new light, like you said. You know, you're looking at the light, you're looking at the shade, you're seeing different things that you might have not noticed before because you're just walking past a tree, most people. Okay, it's another tree. But something grabbed you, you saw something, and you, you know, you took that motivation to go and take a couple of shots. And I think I think that's an amazing thing. And I think it's a a great kind of outlet for us as well. I think it's an easy outlet for many people who maybe don't have that much time to be, you know, seriously, you know, a serious artist, but you you want to have a little play around and you want to create something nice, gives you kind of a little bit of a buzz in the morning, I think.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Absolutely. And I know we're going to be touching on your your tips and insights later on, but I say getting out in nature is something that's blinking good for us anyway, isn't it? So, I mean, obviously, it's not just about photographer, taking I can't say it, photographizing the most. In a word, taking photos of nature, but often if it's just us out on a walk and it's something that's speaking to us, and even if we take the same route every day, because the light's going to be different every day, the weather's going to be different, we're going to be in a different mood. You know, we don't have to go off exploring as far as you've travelled, which we will come to. But you know, right on our doorstep, we can find moments of, as I say, something that will literally move us and make us think, God, I hadn't looked at it in that way before.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

For me, everything that you've just said is is actually spot on. It can be the day, the weather can be different, the light can be different, and most importantly, your mood can be different. So via your mood, via your emotions, what you create will change because you will see things differently. If we are feeling slightly melancholy, which you know, that's completely normal. Um, you may see something more sensitive in a more sensitive fashion than you would normally. You may look at a delicate shadow and and be drawn to it because you're just feeling that kind of depth. If you've just had some really great news and you're super, you know, buzzing and high, and you're just like, oh, you know, the the world's your oyster, again, you'll see things very differently. So that's another thing I like about photography is it's very instant and it can change with our moods. Not so it's not just the kind of landscape and our, I guess, our canvas, which is the real world, it's actually internal as well. So I love that combination of creating art photography.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

And something that just struck me as well. I mean, there is that phrase, isn't there? The camera never lies, but obviously, we're capturing moments, whether it's got people, whether we're taking pictures of ourselves, of a grate, of a fence, whatever it is that's touched us. But obviously, with memory, and I I love this fact because it really makes my mind go into overdrive. Every time we remember something, only the first time we remember it are we are actually remembering the incident itself. From then on, we're actually remembering the last time we thought about it. But photography flips that a different way, doesn't it? Because the photograph is literally capturing that one moment. So every time we look at the photograph, we are looking at the moment. Yeah, does that make any sense? That's a bit of a woo-woo thought, but I suddenly thought, yeah, it kind of turns memory into something more true, if that is the right word.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

I think it gives um what's the word, like an immortality to the memories almost. Absolutely. I I've often thought about this for um famous people. So, for example, if you think of Mick Jagger or you think of Marilyn Monroe, you don't actually think of them, you think of a photo of them. And so those moments have been captured, that face has been captured, and that's what you remember. And so I think that's very interesting about photography. It is that the photography immortalizes a split second that can often never be repeated.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

You've always been creative, but how how did you come to pick up your what was your first camera? Was it a gift? Was it something you inherited from a loved one?

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Or so my whole family were really into photography. My dad, I grew up with my dad just taking photos of really really random things. Like my dad was seriously a very eccentric, a very loving, but a very eccentric man. So we'd go on holiday, and my dad would have come back with these photos, and he'd taken a picture of like the bathroom sink in the hotel. I mean, he was really. No, but but I mean, this is these were the days of film, right? But you know, we took them to boot boots developing, but oh yeah. Um but anyway, no, so he he kind of was just obsessed with taking photos. The other great thing of of course of that was we had a lot of family photos. Um, so obviously I was growing grow grew up with this. My sister loved taking photos. So when I was 11, um they gifted me a little Olympus point and shoot with the little long, I can't remember these long little film things that used to make. Yeah, yes, oh yeah, and no, you know, a camera for kids. And from then on, I just you know, just loved taking photos, and then um I would say around I was around kind of 19, and I had one of uh a boyfriend, and he was a photographer, and so he kind of got me into seeing how photography could actually be more artistic. So I learned more about the kind of arty side of photography from him. Um, and then pretty soon after I was in my early 20s, I went traveling off around the world. I realized that you know, photography was a lot more. I saw some really interesting exhibitions. I went to Melbourne and I saw my first outside photography exhibition. It was called Milk, and it was basically documentary photography from all over the world, and it kind of just blew my mind because I was seeing you know these amazing pictures from the Sahara, from the middle of Africa, from South America, all over the world, London, you know, all over the world, but these amazing artistic photos, and I was just like, that's what I want to do. That that's me, that is me, that's where I'm going. And so throughout that trip, I started developing a bit more of a photographic eye, and that's really when it kind of cracked for me. I was like, no, this is I love this, I can't stop taking photos. Became like an extension of yourself, the camera, never without it. Yeah, no, no, and then I became quite famous with all my friends actually joking, oh god, is she taking another photo? Like, can you give it up the hash, please? But you know that, and then you know, it just carried on. I did I never gave it up, I never put the camera down, I never put my phone down. Um, and now it's literally become like a second instinct. It's really is I just see things and I just start snapping away. And if I get into the zone, it's very difficult to get me out of it.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Now, obviously, I I'm all about midlife metamorphosis, and and you've literally embodied that, haven't you? Because you've swap, as I said, you know, swapping the urban jungle for the real thing for the rainforest. But how on earth do you get, and I think I'm correct in saying, working in advertising in London to living and breathing the Colombian rainforest. I mean, it is the stuff of a movie. There is there is gonna be someone's gonna be listening to this and going, yeah, Netflix.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

No, I think I think it was the typical, I mean, advertising's quite a high, I mean, you're a journalist, right? So you kind of know that kind of world. Um, the media, the media can be quite harsh. So work hard, play hard. Yeah. Work hard and play very hard. And I think I just got a little bit burnt out, to be honest. The the typical reached my mid-30s, um, working crazy hours, um, great lifestyle, but it just became, I think, a little bit too shallow for me. It just just wasn't fulfilling enough. And I'd always had this kind of real creative urge to be an artist, and it's not you know, everyone says, You don't want to be an artist, come on, you don't make money being an artist. Don't be an artist, do something sensible. So I kind of stayed in in the media because it's like, what's the sensible thing to do? But then no, I just thought, nope, take a year out, take a take a year out. You can come back to your career, you know, you're solid in the world. That's a big career now.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

That's a big what were you were you saying to yourself, yes, were there any doubts, or was it like, no, I'm gonna give it a year, and if it doesn't work, I'll just step back into my previous house.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Yeah, that was exactly it, basically. So I signed up for an artist's residency in Buenos Aires, they accepted me. So I was like, okay, all right, well, they they've accepted me, so this is a good sign. Maybe there is hope for me. And you know, I went out, did the artist residency, and I was like, no, this is where I need to be. And through the artist residency, I met other artists who were very hugely successful artists in Argentina, and I thought, no, it is possible, it is possible, and um, so I just I just kept with it. I tried I did a little bit of traveling. Was it Spanish or Portuguese? Spanish, Spanish. No, I didn't speak any Spanish, so I also taught myself Spanish, which was has been a very long journey. A decade, that's been a decade, to be honest. It wasn't um something that came easy, easily to me. Um, but now now I'm fluent, so um, that's another benefit, I think, of what's happened as well. And I'm bilingual, but um, I think what it showed me is I think as well, traveling can open up your world and you meet maybe people that you might not have met. Well, you definitely meet people that you wouldn't have met in your normal life if you just stayed in one place, and I think as well, you know, these experiences, if you if you reach out and try and do something that you've always wanted to do, maybe a dream, um, like an artist residency, or if you want to be a chef, for example, going on a Michelin star chef program, just to see is it possible? Have I got it? Can I do it? Are the people around me, are they my people? And I think that was another big thing. I, you know, I vibed with the other artists I was meeting, they were my people. They, you know, I'd finally found people that inspired me, motivated me, that gave me ideas. And so that I think was a great um kind of springboard to give me the confidence to carry on. But I guess the real thing, the real one of the real things that kind of really changed it was when I whilst I was away, unfortunately, my father got quite sick and he unfortunately passed away. And from that moment, it was just to kind of think, you only live once, you've got one chance at this. Why waste any more time? You know, by this time, you know, I'm in my mid-30s, if if you're gonna do it now or never. And so I just thought, yeah, I'm gonna do it. And I'm actually gonna make my dad proud because you know, he was the one that had in always encouraged my photography because he loved photography. He always took me around, you know, when we went on holiday or went travelling, he'd he'd come with me and be sit patiently while I'm snapping away. He never complained, and I kind of thought, no, I'm gonna do this for my dad, actually. I'm gonna show him what I can achieve. And um, so that kind of gave me the the soul motivation, if you know what I mean, that real kind of oomph inside. Yeah. But you know, when you think of giving up, you know, and I'm not giving up. I've got some, I've got a fire, the fire in my belly, I guess you could call it. So that kind of was a catalyst to be like, life's too short, now or never, let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Absolutely. Because that's another thing I love about you. You talk about the fire in your belly, and yes, you went for it, you really went for it. But all too often, life has other plans sometimes, doesn't it? Yeah, but you've literally, in terms of all the rubbish that COVID, etc. etc. has thrown at you, you've used that and pivoted, and you've not been afraid to try the new things. Whereas all too often we can think, well, that's a sign. No, the world's telling me the universe is telling me to give up. It wasn't gonna work, it's not meant to be. But you were like, No, no, I'm not gonna give up.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

Yeah, so my my first business was actually a tour company, and I used to take people out taking uh photos um and doing like uh kind of experiences with like photography workshops.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

Oh, fabulous.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

But as you've oh, it was amazing, and people loved it. And we, you know, used to go and hang out with different farmers, a lot of local people here. So it was kind of a very cultural experience as well. Um, and because I love working with people, it kind of came through in the photography, and I could also teach other people to take portraits and how to, you know, kind of warm up to people so you're not just taking a cold shot of someone in the street because that can be very kind of hostile almost. But then obviously COVID came along, um, everything closed down here like within 24 hours. It was kind of no flights, no tourism, quarantine, as you know, in the UK, the same thing happened.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Because putting it in perspective, how how far are you from a city or town? Are you literally in the middle of nowhere or no?

SPEAKER_01 18:03

We so I'm very I'm actually about 40 minutes from a city. Um, down, so I live up in the mountains in the jungle behind the sea. So that's actually where I live is actually a very famous kind of tourist area. So it's stunning. It's like Caribbean jungle with with the ocean, and yeah, it's it's very much if you've I don't know if you've known Costa Rica, that kind of um environment, it's very much that kind of vibe. But as I said, the business closed down overnight, and so I was like, you know, what the hell am I gonna do? By this time I'd had a little girl, so it's like, no, we need to, you know, we need to get some money in. Um, so I thought, right, well, I've got a lot of foc photos, I'm gonna start selling some prints. I put a little thing on Facebook, guys, friends, I'm selling some of my prints if anyone's interested. And so my best friend, obviously, your best friend does, um, said, Oh, I'll take some Tash, thank you. So we did the prints. I sent them to her and all of that. And so she's just said to me, Tash, I think what you're doing is absolutely wonderful. So, what do you mean? I said, You're you're providing a sanctuary for us via your art when we when we need it most because we can't go out. And you're sending us this this beauty, you're sending us this kind of healing energy through your art, and it's it's stunning, you're creating a sanctuary for me. And I thought, that's it, that's what I want to do. I want to create sanctuaries for people via my art. It just kind of snowballed from there, really, and then I got into looking at how our spaces affect us and how our environments affect us, and I just thought how much um our artwork and our decoration, so it goes a little bit more as well, further, because it's not just art, but our whole surroundings can really affect our mood. So I kind of started reading about that, and I just got really into it, really fascinated. Um, and again, it brought me back to a very uh strong point in my life. But I don't, you know, I don't want to get too morbid and too sad, but when I was very small, when I was eight, my mother died from breast cancer, and I was left with my father. My my sister went off to university, and I was left with my dad. And my dad, as I said, was very eccentric, very loving, but very eccentric, crazy man, and he wasn't the best at tidying the house, let's face it. He, you know, it was all a bit uh crazy and it, you know, they're piles of paperwork and books and yes, exactly, and creative types, yeah. Yeah, and and he was my dad was actually a mathematician, so he kind of had all his like these algebra papers everywhere. I mean, he was a he was a very eccentric man, and uh so it it was kind of I grew up in a bit of a chaotic house, and I remember going to my friend's house, and they're all you know, beautiful, lovely, you know, it's just normal houses, and uh came home and you know, thinking, oh, this is not you know, it's not nice. So I think all of that tied into this kind of need to create a safe, healthy space. And I think that kind of just when I had my daughter giving that to her, I guess the thing that I didn't have, maybe, was something as well that's kind of played in the background. It wasn't something that's conscious, but I definitely think it's played into the kind of motivation to keep on this route because I truly believe that our homes should be our sanctuaries and and we should um we we can try and make our spaces, you know, like support us, not just be, not just be. We they can actually support us mentally and emotionally.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

No, I love that. I love that. And as you say, it's twofold. It's I mean, the the the insights that that you have are both about having purchasing a piece of art in terms of photography, but also using, like we were saying earlier as well, using photography, whether it be a camera on your phone or an actual proper proper camera with film to actually capture images. So I mean, are there any things that you know, steps that you go through in terms of when you're thinking about creating an image or finding the image that speaks to you? What how would you advise people to actually find a photographer piece of uh a photograph even to go on their wall?

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Well, I think it's really important to find something that resonates with you personally or or with your family as a as a group if you've got a family. Depends where you want to put the photo. Um, so I I feel like um it has to be something that you like. So if you like roses, um then go for roses, but if you don't, then don't put roses on your wall. You do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Like I think it has to be very personal. So there are so many trends as well, aren't there? It's easy to see online or in magazines or whatever and think, oh yes, I'm going to go out. But it's all about, as you say, getting something that speaks to you. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

So and I think with that you can take time. So I think if you're curious about a piece of artwork and you're not sure, um go back to it. So look at it, go whether it's in a gallery or online, pause, go back to it in a week and see what feeling it gives you. And if it gives you that the feeling that no, I do want that piece of art in my house, then I think it's probably for you. And if you're still not sure, then it's probably not because there's something holding you back. You know what I mean? Um and I also think, like maybe the different spaces. So think about where you would like to put your art. So, for example, a piece of art in a bedroom may be very different to a piece of art you might put in a social space. Like if you're a very party kind of person, you have lots of parties in your kitchen, for example. Um, you you might want your artwork to be more vibrant, uplifting. Um, and maybe in your bedroom, it depends, you know, so you maybe you want something very raunchy in your bedroom, or maybe you want something very very calming. It, you know, it's very personal. It's very personal.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Oh, I love that. And it also there's the options as well of going for one big in-your face photograph, for example. Yeah, yeah. Or what I like as well, it's like the incorporating the storytelling side of it. So actually, whether whether we're buying art or whether we're using it as something to express ourselves, actually having images that tell a story that really resonates with us.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Yeah, yeah. I also love, for example, I love gallery walls when you have those kind of family gallery walls as well. I think that I I love them in a house, and I think, you know, I'm very much, even though I'm an art photographer, I very much come from a background of creating memories of this kind of capturing um family moments. I love also that kind of family photography. It's not something I do as a job, but I do it a lot for my own family. Like I have a lot of content of my daughter, my husband, of me. Um, for me, it's very important to capture those memories. Probably stemming from the loss of my mum in a way, because I grew up with my dad taking photos, and so I grew up actually, the photos were kind of the only thing I had left of my mum. So it's it's all come, you know, it all comes when you look back on why you do what you do. If you look really deep, deep, deep down in the roots, you can find some quite interesting, you know, where they kind of came from in originally. So, yeah, no, I think um there's so many different combinations. You can put collages, as you say, you can put like lots of different sized prints, um, family photos, you can have those huge big canvases, you know, the drop-dead really statement pieces. So, yeah, photography, like all other forms of art, you know, the the formats also can change the environment and change the feeling of the artwork a lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:50

Because I really love black and white and sepier art as well, particularly with the you know, the light and shade. And again, that's something to bear in mind, isn't it? It doesn't have to be a colour image. I mean, do you do you work in both black and white and colour, or do you prefer yeah?

SPEAKER_01 26:05

I recently I've gone to colour because I've been looking a lot into kind of colour psychology, um, and also because a lot of my work is based around nature, the colour is kind of it's quite important sometimes. But I love black and white as well. I've I've got a lot of black and white portraits, I've got a lot of black and white street photography. Um, and I did actually do a tropical series, which I it's one of my favourite series actually, um, which is like a series of kind of abstract y black and white palm trees, and it's I think it's quite sophisticated. So no, black and white is uh is I love I love monochrome as well, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

So, how did you get involved in the colour psychology then? Yeah, well, I don't want to say I'm an expert because I but I just late. Yeah, no, that's that's what I love though. It's when something actually interests and sparks you because we're all about midlife unlimited is all about unleashing that childlike curiosity, trying new things. You don't want to be an expert because you've got nothing left to learn. In terms of colour psychology, how did you discover that? Was that through seeing other people's photographs or or the idea that I mean, I as I understand it, our moods can be affected very much by the colours we surround ourselves by?

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Whilst I've been kind of developing sanctuary art studios, I've been kind of studying a little bit of Feng Shui, again, I guess these tools that support our environment. So, colour psychology, I've just kind of really interested in why, for example, I live in the rainforest, right? So, my immediate colour surrounding me is green. And what does green actually do? So, the more you read about kind of what green is, how it affects you, it's it's very interesting. And then you start noticing actually, yeah, it really does. And so I kind of have incorporated that into my artwork just because I feel it adds a little bit of depth to the work. I think it can also maybe inform the space that it's gonna go into. So, for example, if someone, as I said, if someone really wants like a kind of calming, healing atmosphere for maybe a reading nook or a maybe a small kind of meditation corner that they have. Green is a is a fantastic colour for that, and blue is also a very good colour. Red, not so much because red's vibrant, it can put us kind of on alert. Obviously, it changes with culture, so not all um cultures have the same. For example, when someone has a funeral here, people wear white. We don't wear black in Colombia, a very different more ethereal as well. It makes sense, doesn't it? It's kind of quite a calm, yeah. So it's a very interesting, I've just found it um a fascinating topic. Um, I generally like psychology anyway, so the colour kind of just m matches into my art a lot. So, yeah, when you're creating a space, think about the colour that you're you're putting in it. And if you can't, for example, if you're in an office, maybe you can't paint your office the colour that you want to, because it might be a shared space, but you maybe can bring in a piece of artwork that reflects the colours that you like, and that's much uh much easier thing to maybe enjoy.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

And also, people are renting as well, you know. To be honest, so many people, whether whether we're downsizing or even you know, digital nomads out there, yeah. It's a way of taking something personal with us, isn't it? That uh instantly transforms a place. Now, obviously, we're talking about your art, and because it's an audio podcast, although when we do record our video podcast, I might say to you, let's let's get some of them, let's start showing it. But we will be sharing your obviously your website, etc., in a little while so that listeners can go and have a look at exactly what Natasha is all about. Are there any top tips for taking photographs to make it, I won't say idiot proof, but to make it a bit easier.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

Well, I'm not sure I could give tips to make it easier, but I can give some tips to make it fun and like so you can. That's the main thing is the experiment. And so I think it's all about experimenting. So one I think is look for different angles. So don't in photography we say there's like the bird's eye view, which is obviously on top. There's the kind of you know, the street view, which is like where we look normally, and then we say there's a dog's eye view, which is getting down on the floor. I think about getting on the floor looking up. I mean, it depends where you are, obviously. You can stand on some stairs or on a bench or something and look down, and then you can just look straight at something. So think about the different angles you can go in to make something maybe look different. So I love often getting down on the floor and shooting up against the sky. So you can have the cloud, the clouds in the background, and the clouds form all of the background, and it can look very, it can look magical. I mean, depending. Think about the rules, maybe of photography. So they say, but think about breaking them. So I love breaking the rules, yeah. So I they always say don't shoot, shoot into the sun, but you can shoot into the sun, you're gonna get a silhouette, you're not gonna see the details, but it gives a different type of fit picture. So so I think you know, it's it's not for portraits. If you want to take a beautiful portrait of your partner and your child, then you know, shooting into the sun's not the way. But if you want to get a very interesting silhouette and you want to get something moody, something artistic, it's a nice, it's a nice little tip. So I think my biggest tip for photography is move around, move around with your camera, move around, get on the floor, get up high, shoot into the sun, shoot the other way, see the difference in the light, see the see the difference in the textures and experiment. And the beautiful thing with using a phone or a digital camera is you can see the results immediately. So you can maybe develop something to say, oh, I really love that silhouette, but oh no, if I put it a bit more to the left, oh, what would that look like? And you can kind of go on the little journey.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

And as well, the whole idea of film being quite an expensive commodity as well. So the beauty of say digital photography on a camera or on a phone, as you say, you can go click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click. I tend to do that, I tend to take lots and lots of photographs and then go, right, go through and edit them and go.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Yeah, but and I think the other thing is just don't be just do it, just do it, you know. Like, don't worry about what anyone thinks, don't worry about if it's not perfect, don't worry about what it looks like. Enjoy it, really enjoy it. And if you're enjoying it and experimenting, then something good is always gonna come out. I love that, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 32:39

And do you currently have a favorite image that you've taken recently, or or is there one from years ago that is still a standout image for you? Oh, it's it's very difficult because I can imagine different parts of your life in photographs.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

Yeah, I think, yeah, it's it's impossible. I I have so many different photos. I mean, I've got some lovely ones of the hummingbirds that I'm very proud of. I've got my air collection, which I which I think has been one of my best sellers, and it is very special. It's basically about 20 photos of the hummingbird in different positions of flight, and so that kind of put together on a wall, maybe different size prints, does look pretty wow. That's something I'm very proud of. And I also um 10 years ago I was invited to work with the some indigenous women here, um, and they are very kind of a closed group. The what you're not really allowed to take photos of the women, and I've been working with them for over 10 years now, so I've got a huge collection of photography, and I think that work is probably some of the work that's most unique and I'm proud of. So that I really need to look what you know, what I can do with that really. As you say, it's the story, isn't it? Yeah, but um no, I've got a lot of content, so it's it's always interesting to me because people come in with oh, that's my favourite, I love that. And it would be something that I've like, oh I it often surprises me, people's favourites, but it's great because I'm like, okay, yeah, that was a good one.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

Yeah, so no, no, well, listeners, I won't keep you waiting much longer. We're gonna give Natasha's details in a minute. But next, you have the three questions, and I'm rather excited about these. I'm rather excited about these that I ask each of my guests, and you're not going to escape. And if there's any stories or reasons behind them, I'd love to hear as well. So the first question is when you're not listening to the gorgeous noise of the jungle around you, what is your midlife anthem?

SPEAKER_01 34:39

Well, there's a song that I've always loved, and it's something that whenever I hear it, I can't stop smiling. And I almost you can almost kind of burst out dancing. It's it's called Let the Sun Shine In, and it's by an old 60s, 70s group called the Fifth Dimension. It's very, very kind of 60s, it's almost verging on gospel, but I it's just something that's so motivating that I challenge anyone who puts that song on that they're not dancing.

SPEAKER_02 35:06

I know, I'm not gonna burst in amazing uplifting.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

I'm not gonna burst into song, but I've got it in my head now. No, that it's one of those ones you just want to put your arms out and oh yeah, I can pitch you in the jungle singing it, singing it, playing it. Oh, that's wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

Oh, yeah, so that would have been like a nice sit, probably an anthem that would have been dancing all night too in my olden days in life. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 35:31

So then we know your anthem. What is your midlife mantra, the phrase that you live your wonderful, adventurous life by?

SPEAKER_01 35:39

Well, it's funny because you you've almost touched on it earlier. It's the phrase of um look at the world through the eyes of the child. I love that, and that's what we were kind of saying before, wasn't it? That ethos of you're always learning, you're always curious, you never know everything. Why would you want to know everything? Keep learning, keep, keep, keep open. And I think as an artist and a photographer, I think also that is very kind of it's it's very relevant. Keep looking at things differently, keep seeing what you haven't seen before. Because I think that's I think that's uh I think that's life. Keep keep keep going, keep learning and be curious. And I never stop being curious, and I think that comes into you know why I enjoy people, because I like asking people questions. I like, you know, like you, like I like in not interviewing, but I love learning about it.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

But it's it's natural curiosity, isn't it? That's what we were saying earlier as well, and I won't forget the last question. But even with something that we think is such a again back to photography, something that we might pass every day that we might be so familiar with when we actually pause and look at it, whatever say it's a gatepost, but in different days, in different lights, as you said beautifully from you know the bird's eye view, the street view, and then the dog perspective will shift and change, and the images that you can create each each time you look at it, it's the same as all aspects of life, isn't it? If you actually pause and find a different oh, oh, I'm getting goosebumps from this. I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_02 37:15

I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_00 37:17

So before we go on to how listeners can get in touch with you, how they can see your gorgeous photographs, what is the title of your autobiography? And I'm guessing it's going to be an absolutely sumptuous coffee table book. That's what I've got in mind. Do not disappoint me.

SPEAKER_01 37:36

No, so I think my autobiography would be an intimate portrait of life. I think that's what my my kind of it's kind of my line for my photography before I kind of created Sanctuary. That was kind of what I my whole kind of ethos of my photography was. Um, and so it doesn't necessarily have to be portraits of people, but really that kind of intimacy. So, as I'm saying, looking at the light, looking at a leaf, really, really looking at it, really seeing it. And I so I think, yeah, I love that feeling of an intimate portrait. I look forward to it.

SPEAKER_00 38:08

I look forward to it. I can I can envisage it now on the coffee table. Lovely, lovely. So I've been promising that we're going to give your contact details. Obviously, all your contact details are in the show notes for our episode, and you have your guest profile on the Midlife Unlimited podcast website with a rather fabulous photo of you and your camera. But for the sake of listeners, to make it easier while we're listening now, how can they contact you? What's your website?

SPEAKER_01 38:36

So I'm on SanctuaryArt Studios. My website is sanctuaryartstudios.com. I've got my Instagram, which is also SanctuaryArt Studios. Um, I'm on Pinterest as well. I'm on all the all the platforms. So that's where you can find me, and um, anyone can reach out to me there. I'm more than happy to have a chat if anyone's interested in anything I do or wants to learn more about it. And can you purchase prints through your website? Right. Okay, so no, actually, we can't. So what I do now is um I kind of do a more personalized approach. So my art, because it's yeah, my art is very personal, so it's I kind of like to talk to my customers before before they buy it. So normally the way people buy things is by sending me an email. I'm interested in this piece, and then we talk about um, you know, how they can buy it. But they you can buy online. I've got you know, you can do car payment and that, but it's not, I don't actually have like an online gallery where you just go and buy the art. It's very bespoke.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

And me, I'd love your feedback on today's episode. So it would be fabulous if you could leave a review and you can email or text me via the link in the show notes and come and join the Midlife Unlimited podcast Facebook group. Again, the links in the show notes where you'll find the website link and details of my one-to-one coaching offers and more, my award-winning all-in-one coaching program that combines both one-to-one coaching with group coaching. So, thank you for joining me, Natasha. It's been absolutely brilliant. Thank you for listening. I look forward to tuning in next week because don't forget Midlife Unlimited has a new episode every Thursday available wherever you listen to your podcast. So here's to being fabulous and flourishing together and living Midlife Unlimited. Thanks, Natasha. It's been brilliant. Bye.