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A group of sixteen keen communicators from different parts of the Diocese gathered at the Cathedral in early March for an interactive photography skills workshop. Facilitated by the Diocese of Nottingham, with input from the communications team of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and Nottingham Cathedral, the workshop provided an opportunity for attendees to explore how strong visual communications can really serve the mission of the local church. 

As people introduced themselves, there was a variety of expertise in the room but a common desire of wanting to place this expertise at the service of the Church and their local parishes. Staff from the Bishops’ Conference shared about the importance of visual communications, with high quality images often being a gate way to the transcendent for many people in our culture. The team elaborated on capturing those unique moments in parish life, the things to look out for, the importance of narrative and the challenges and great opportunities of photography in parish and diocesan settings. The input included lots of interesting and informative stories from Marcin Mazur, official photographer of the CBCEW, and those gathered were delighted to see and learn from his work and vast experience.

The workshop was peppered with practical insights the ‘home team’, with the Cathedral team sharing its experience of a digital transformation over the last 2.5 years. The  Cathedral had focused on strong visual communications on platforms such as Instagram, hoping to open up the Church’s beauty to new audiences and seeking to drive in person engagement to the Cathedral, through beautiful images and invitational captions. Luke Potter and Joe Martin, freelance photographers from the Diocese also contributed their insights and the lessons they had learned in capturing life in the diocese on camera. And Assistant Diocesan Communications Officer, Liz Guttierez, shared her top tips for capturing events using a smart phone. 

Whilst the workshop looked at photography skills, the interactive discussion with all those gathered, veered and stayed on the importance of visual culture and how to use beautiful imagery can enable people to encounter the Catholic faith. Many interesting questions, opportunities and challenges were also raised by the group from how to practically deal with an excess of incense in liturgical settings, to issues around image consent and how to showcase the best of a tiny rural parish in a remoter part of the Diocese. 

The group then headed over to the Cathedral, where Marcin spent some time highlighting aspects he would capture and be looking for before attendees were given the opportunity to explore and capture images of the Cathedral. Tips, techniques, ideas and inspiration were shared during the morning and attendees left feeling inspired and encouraged to begin or further strengthen Catholic Communications in their local area.

For more information about supporting communications in the diocese, see here: https://www.dioceseofnottingham.uk/departments/communications