The benefits of looking at prints and sharing work... What is a Photo Social?

I’ve been running Photo Socials for nearly a decade. They started in Nottingham in 2016 when a few of us decided we needed a way to bring photographers, generally solitary creatures, together to share work and ideas.

At the time, the only examples we could find were traditional camera clubs or organised studio sessions. Camera clubs did a great job of building community, but they often focused too much on gear and competition. We all love equipment, but it can become alienating for those who don’t have the means or desire to buy the latest lens or camera body. As a film photographer, I never felt that mattered much anyway, film photography is about aesthetic, not perfection. You can make a brilliant picture with a pinhole camera. As long as it’s the right tool for the job, who cares?

The competitive aspect also never made sense to me. Why compete? We’re all doing our own thing, creative practice isn’t something that can (or should) be ranked.

The other common format, studio sessions, often revolved around groups of (usually) men photographing a woman (usually) in a state of undress. That environment didn’t feel progressive or particularly safe for women, and I couldn’t find a good reason to make those kinds of pictures myself. It just wasn’t something I wanted to support.

So we set out to build something different, an inclusive space where people could share and discuss their work without the conversation revolving around equipment. If you’ve made a photograph of the trees in your garden using eco-developer made from those same leaves, then sure, talk about the process! But generally, we wanted to shift the focus toward the why, what we’re trying to say with our photographs. That approach feels far more productive and removes the stigma around using point-and-shoots or so-called “non-professional” gear.

We also ask participants to bring prints if they can. To keep things accessible, we’ll happily make prints for anyone who needs them. There’s something powerful about spreading physical prints out on a table rather than scrolling through a screen. You can move them around, pair them up, and start to see new connections between images, and when done socially, it invites others into that creative process. It can be revelatory.

Most importantly, we ask everyone to be kind. Sharing creative work is deeply personal, you’re putting a part of yourself out there for others to see. We want to make sure people, especially those new to photography, feel supported and safe to do that. When feedback comes from a place of kindness, everyone grows.

Since starting the socials, they’ve taken off, often filling to capacity with people eager to share work, exchange ideas, and connect. Through these sessions, participants have met collaborators, developed projects, and discovered new ways of working. Watching the socials grow, and bringing them to Take It Easy Lab in 2023, has been a joy. We now have a thriving community around the lab and new faces joining us every session.

If you’d like to come along to one of our free socials, check out the Community section of our site.

Click here to see a little video of what to expect. We’d love to see you there.