Debbie Deboo writes about her photography and suggests photography can help others who have limited mobility and strength
At the end of 2014 I won Ulster Wildlife 'Nature Matters' photographic competition with this photograph of a bee in flight. The prize included a £700 camera, a £100 gift voucher and being part of an exhibition in Belfast City Hall as well as being on the cover of their annual calendar. I was featured in the Northern Irish national newspapers.
What makes this story a little more interesting than just another photographer winning another photography competition is that I've only been taking photographs for nearly three years and I also suffer from a seriously debilitating illness, M.E. My illness has left me largely housebound unless someone takes me out in the car, which I don't always want to do as it tires me out and it also means I can't access a lot of places or do a lot of things fit and healthy people can do.
I've not always been ill. 13 years ago I had a successful career as a secondary school teacher and loved life and everything I could do with life living in London. The illness when it hit me was completely devastating. I lost friends, I lost my life as I knew it and I lost my job. I found myself in a deep dark pit. I tried various things to make sense of my life, complimentary therapies, small businesses making craft items but they either didn't work or tired me out too much.
I started photography when I needed product photographs for my then craft business 'Glamsticks'. I found it was something I could do around the house, photographing jewellery, ornament, bags, shoes. I started making compositions with these objects, colour themed etc. It was only really a hobby and I didn't really bother showing the photographs to anyone at that point.
When I moved to NI I saw there was a course at a local wildlife centre on wildlife photography. I enquired if it was disabled friendly and it was and I was allowed to take a carer with me. I loved it and developed a passion for wildlife photography. The place I would go to had wheelchair friendly paths through the woods and I could get out of my wheelchair to walk a short distance into the woods and take the photographs. I found the silence of the woods, the beauty of nature and the resulting photographs completely therapeutic and rewarding.
Some days I was too ill to leave my home, or I had no one to take me in the car so I would go out in the garden. The photo that won the Ulster Wildlife competition was taken in my garden. I got myself a small foldable seat and sat by some flower bushes and photographed the bees. The result was winning a national competition.
My photography has amassed quite a following and I've branched out into fashion photography. I have a small makeshift studio in a log cabin at the end of the garden and models come to me for portfolio photoshoots. They all know I am ill and understand I have to have frequent breaks and rests but we have a great time and it means I get to do something meaningful, have company and don't have to leave my home.
The Ulster Wildlife competition has not been the only success in three years, I have had photographs featured on BBC TV and their website, photographs in books and I've won several smaller competitions. I've also had photographs used in local newspapers and magazines.
I feel I have finally found something I can do that has meaning, has given me success and has enabled me to have some kind of productive life with the illness I have. I am still very ill, I have to pace myself and not take on too many assignments (and I am in demand). But it's something a lot of people can do who don't have much mobility or strength. We may not be able to get out into the mountains to take cliff side photographs but I have proven you can win national competitions without leaving your garden.
Debbie Deboo - https://www.facebook.com/debbiedeboophotography
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