Last year we worked with 18 brilliant disabled creatives on our Young Artist Development Programme (YADP). Their work is featured in a new zine called “Department for Wonder and Play”, more about this here. In addition to the digital and physical publication, we’re going to spotlight each artist on the blog so you can get a deeper insight into their work and process. Over to Joni, to say a little bit about her project Playful People.

When I was 15, I bought my first disposable film camera to use over the summer, and I completely fell in love with the process of capturing moments, memories and people. I started building up my collection of cameras and experimenting with new compositions, lighting and ideas – it quickly became my favourite way of expressing myself creatively. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more playful with my practices, and I love trying out new ideas with friends.

Photography has always been a playful practice for me – I love dreaming up ideas, playing around with them, experimenting, and eventually working on creating something beautiful. I especially love when I can do this with other people! I love connecting with people and creating together. I also love that through photographing people, I get to capture even the most fleeting moments forever! It feels so special to be able to use my craft to capture little glimpses into people’s lives and emotions.

My project for the zine, Playful People, is about young neurodivergent people expressing joy, wonder, playfulness and curiosity. I wanted to capture each of them doing something they love – their hobbies, passions, hyper-fixations and special interests – to explore how they interact with the world and experience the feelings of curiosity and playfulness.

My project involved 7 other people – all friends of mine who are neurodivergent and passionate about their individual hobbies and interests. It was such a special experience getting to share this project with each of them – we spent time discussing our ideas, shooting the images, and going over some short interview questions. I loved this being a collaborative project, because it’s one of the things I love the most about photography – it can really connect you with other people!

Neurodivergent people are all unique and different, but for many of us, wonder and curiosity make up an important part of the way we perceive the world. I have always been an extremely curious and playful person – ever since I can remember, I felt a curiosity about the world that only began to make more sense when I was diagnosed with autism. I wanted to use my project to show the beautiful curiosity and playfulness of neurodivergent people, to celebrate our unique minds and to share some of the things that make us tick.

I had the best time creating this project! It felt so exciting to take a concept from the earliest stages right up to completing it, especially doing it with some of my best friends. It was beautifully fulfilling to produce a project that is so meaningful to me, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to bring life to this idea. I enjoyed hearing about each person’s passions and hobbies, chatting with them about what sparks their curiosity, and learning more about how each of them finds ways to be playful in their everyday lives. Doing this project has inspired me to be more playful each day and to access my creativity as much as I can!

Thanks so much Joni for giving us an idea of what a collaborative project like Playful People can involve.