Resources and skills for carers,parents and social workers

1. ©Anita McKenzie
USING PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES FOR LIFE
(HI)STORY WORK WITH CHILDREN AND ELDERS

2. Little Black Sambo, a character
from a story book for children by
Helen Bannerman in 1899 (UK).
Today we create images that tell
our own stories as individuals,
families and as diverse
communities.

3. Children In Focus calendars
were produced featuring
multicultural black and white
photographs which were
bought by schools, nurseries
and crèches across the UK.

4. Great pictures help you to
tell great stories!
Making images of African, Asian
and Caribbean communities
available to publishers to illustrate
their stories and reach wider
audiences.
1996 -2007

5. Publishing clients wanting to
publish images of African and Asian
people, came from a diverse range
across the publishing world.

6. Contrasts, Textures and Hues:
Exploring early printed images of
people of African and Asian
heritage. Published by McKenzie
Heritage Picture Archive in 2004.
http://contraststexturesandhues.wordpress.com

7. Family and community images
record events which enable us
to view our lives against the
backdrop of history.

8. Photographs capture past life
events, up to the present day.
They tell us stories about the
period, the people and the place.

9. Photographs can be used to help us to map relationships.

10. The ‘Life Story Work’ book
published by BAAF in 1993.

11. Realistic, often un-posed, un-smiling and spontaneous photo’s can convey a
more realistic sense of what was happening at the time.

12. Photographs in Life Story work provides people with dementia with an
improved sense of identity and self worth.

13. ‘Extreme Unction’ by Nicolas Poussin focuses on the last rites. Often death is a
taboo or distressing topic for Life Story work with elders.

14. Photographs can be used to illustrate themes along a timeline, to include
significant other’s, like parents, siblings & partners.

15. Anita’s 7 Top Tips for working with Images
Take as many photographs as possible of a ‘looked after’ child in their
current situation, before it may change
Gather and collate chronologically, photographs that are key to the stages
of a the individuals life narrative
Lightly record who, where & when info about the photo on the back of
photo’s, to help later with captioning, or in case photographs is mislaid
Photocopy or scan photographs for life-story work so that originals can be
kept in tact
Involve family, carers and life story recipient where appropriate, in the
process of selection and captioning of photographs
Store photographs together in a safe place, like a box file
Remember that a life-story book is not just a photo album. Photographs
and other objects/materials in a memory box, can help an individual to
unravel their story

16. Anita McKenzie is multi-skilled and
trained as an Interfaith Minister,
Spiritual Counselor, Mindfulness
practitioner, Zen Meditation
teacher, Transformative Mediation,
in Spirit Release Therapy and in
photography. She a Marriage Care
course facilitator, a mother and
grandmother and her ministry
revolves around personal and
spiritual development through the
photographic arts, health and
wellbeing, and spirituality.

17. Thank You
Anita McKenzie is the founder of McKenzie Heritage Picture Archive, the first
Black picture library in the UK (1996-2007). She is a recipient of the award for
Arts & Culture, from the European Federation of Black Women Business
Owners, 2003.
The McKenzie Heritage Archive is now on loan to the Black Cultural Archives.
All images in this presentation are ©copyright and may not be re-published.
www.mckenzieheritage.com
http://contraststexturesandhues.wordpress.com
Twitter: @mhcollection_UK
Email: anita@mckenzieheritage.com
Email: healingimage@hotmail.com

18. Life History Workshops
Children and Elders
Anita McKenzie
132 Hither Green Lane
SE13 6QA
Contact: email
info@SocialWorkProcesses.co.uk