Sharing experiences through creativity: Fiona Robinson on photography and wellbeing

Fiona Robinson is a socially engaged photographer based in Salford. She works with people to build community, confidence and photographic skills. As an ecologist who has worked in public health, she is particularly interested in wellbeing and green spaces. In this interview with Open Eye Gallery, she talks about her path to photography, projects in the garden, and the importance of the local environment and social connections for people’s health and creativity.

What is your background? How does it influence your photography practice?

My background isn’t in the arts as my first degree is in Ecology, and MSc in Protected Landscape Management. I had no formal training in art between a GCSE and starting my MA. However, “community” has been the common thread throughout everything I have done in my career.  I’ve worked in environmental education, sustainable tourism development, environmental improvement projects and as community development manager in a local authority public health team. So much of people’s health is dictated by things other than healthcare so things like their local environment and their social connections are key.

So much of people’s health is dictated by things other than healthcare so things like their local environment and their social connections are key.

All of these experiences influence my practice, as the key to success in all of them is building trust with the people who you are working with, and making sure that you are facilitating their projects rather than dictating yours. 

Images: Let’s Grow Preston, Fiona Robinson’s MA project

Why did you decide to do an MA in Socially Engaged Photography and how did it change your practice? 

At the time I started the MA I didn’t really have a socially engaged photography practice. I had a community development practice and I’d been a keen photographer for over a decade, but my main personal passions are for landscape and garden photography, so there wasn’t any professional photography practice. 

I had been working for the local authority for over a decade, and was looking for a change. My whole practice has developed from the MA, so it was absolutely pivotal to this. After dropping my work hours to half time in 2020 to start the MA, at the beginning of 2025 the photography projects had grown to allow me to stop the local authority work completely.

MA in Socially Engaged Photography course is a joint programme that Open Eye Gallery has run with the University of Salford since 2018. 

Which projects did you work on during and after your MA? Why do you think socially engaged practice is important? 

During my MA I worked on a project with a wonderful group of women and community gardening group, Let’s Grow Preston. 

Since graduating, I’ve been Open Eye Gallery’s photographer in residence at Merseycare’s Liferooms Walton, delivering several series of workshops that are about photography, but as much about confidence, connections and creativity. 

I also received a small National Lottery projects grant from Arts Council England to run Caregiving, a project with carers in Salford. I’d made a series of photographs to help me process the emotions associated with caring for John, my late husband who had young onset dementia. I wanted to enable other carers to do the same. We produced a small exhibition that has been touring local libraries and is currently in Salford Royal hospital, and a zine explaining the realities of caring to health and social care professionals in a creative way.

Particularly through smartphone photography and social media, photography is a key way that people express themselves. It’s an incredibly accessible way of creating art, and for sharing experiences with others. I think socially engaged practice is really important at providing opportunities to share ideas and experiences through creativity.

Images: Caregiving project by Fiona Robinson

You are one of the photographers in residence for the OFFSHOOT project, working at RHS Garden Bridgewater. How does your experience in Ecology and  Public Health influence your current projects? Does it help bring any unexpected connections?

The OFFSHOOT project was a great way to pull together many different strands of my experience. Working regularly in the gardens for a year has meant that I’ve experienced it in all its seasonal guises, and a beautiful location is always going to help inspire beautiful creative work.  

Working regularly in the gardens for a year has meant that I’ve experienced it in all its seasonal guises.

The main group that I worked with were individuals who had been prescribed therapeutic gardening sessions by local healthcare professionals, and so they weren’t necessarily expecting to be creative. I think my knowledge of both ecology and health influences the way I want to work, treading as lightly as possible on the natural world around us. This leads me to work with processes such as the anthotype photograms which keeps the work we make firmly rooted in the garden.

OFFSHOOT is a collaboration between University of Salford Art Collection, RHS Garden Bridgewater and Open Eye Gallery, which culminated in special exhibitions throughout 2026. Socially engaged photographers in residence Fiona Robinson, Anoosh Ariamehr and Liz Lock were working regularly at RHS Garden Bridgewater with different groups from the Salford community.

Images: OFFSHOOT workshops at RHS Garden Bridgewater

Why do you think this connection with photography and horticulture is beneficial? Do you have any interesting examples or observations from your groups?

There’s loads of research that both time in green space, and time being creative are really good for our health and wellbeing. I know this from my own life, that taking a quiet walk in the woods with my camera is the best way to reduce stress.

There’s loads of research that both time in green space, and time being creative are really good for our health and wellbeing.

One of the surprising comments during my time in the residency was from Ozichi, the therapeutic gardener. Several times throughout the year she said that working alongside me had inspired her to take out her phone and make images, and see the beauty of the garden as well as the long list of tasks she had to keep it looking that way.

The dream is that I continue working with different groups in different locations to make beautiful and interesting images that tell important stories.