Self-Expression Through The Lens with Glenys Garnett

Self-Expression Through the Lens with Glenys Garnett [2-Parts]

Sunday 15 and Sunday 22 November 2026, 7pm GMT (UK time). Live on Zoom.

Glenys Garnett is a legend in the creative photography community, in the UK and well beyond, and she joins us live for two Sunday evenings this November.

Part 1

Sunday 15 November, 7pm GMT

Every photograph is a conversation. When that conversation is with yourself, it becomes something deeply powerful. Selfies, at their best, are not about perfection, they are about expression. In this presentation, we’ll explore how creative selfie photography can become a meaningful form of self-expression, one that celebrates individuality and invites connection.

We’ll begin by looking at a few notable photographers who have elevated the self-portrait into a celebrated artistic practice. Artists such as Cindy Sherman, Vivian Maier, Lee Friedlander and Francesca Woodman who used their own image not simply as subject matter, but as a means of questioning identity, performance, vulnerability, and the gaze. I’ll share examples of their work and highlight how their approaches continue to influence contemporary creative self-portraiture, including the modern selfie.

From there, we’ll move into practical suggestions for developing your own creative practice. We’ll discuss how to generate and refine an idea, how to cultivate a personal style, approaches to posing and gesture that feel authentic rather than forced, and key technical considerations like composition, lighting, focus, and the thoughtful use of equipment, whether you’re working with a smartphone or mirrorless/DSLR camera.

Finally, I’ll share a personal selfie project I created. I’ll walk you through the original idea and intention behind it, the process of planning and making the images, including challenges, decisions, and discoveries along the way, and the final printed outcome. My hope is that seeing one complete journey from concept to print will offer both inspiration and a clear sense of how these ideas can come together in practice.

Part 2

Sunday 22 November, 7pm GMT

In the first part of this presentation we explored self-expression through the lens, looking at the work of artists who transformed the self-portrait into something profound, and considering the creative and practical foundations that can help us approach our own images with greater intention.

Now we move into the technical side of making and the sharing.

In this second session I will open up the process behind my own selfie project and show some of the Photoshop techniques I used to shape the final images. These are not about heavy manipulation for its own sake, but about refining light, mood, texture and atmosphere so that the photographs more closely match the feelings I set out to express.

We will look at creative ways of presenting selfies and self-portraits and how these approaches can turn a series of images into a more complete and personal statement.

My hope is that by sharing both the digital craft and the possibilities for presentation, you will leave with practical ideas you can adapt to your own work, and a clearer sense of how the journey from concept to finished piece can become an act of self-expression in itself.

About Glenys

Glenys Garnett is an artist and photographer based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Her imagery is often abstract, using techniques such as multiple exposure and intentional camera movement. She has also given talks to Royal Photographic Society groups around the country.

See more of her work at ggcreativeimages.co.uk.

From Mark

Glenys is absolutely world class. She gave one of the very first talks on Camversation, back in October 2020, on creative in-camera techniques. Since then she has shown us how she builds her creative composites in Photoshop, talked about the barriers that hold back our creativity, and shared her Leeds project and how to show your work in grids. She has taught us to make handmade photobooks and led a three-part series on photographic typologies. She has organised meet-ups for us too. I always enjoy her talks and learn something new every time. You don’t need to have seen her before to join in, as this series stands on its own.

Tickets

• £12 Both live sessions.

• £20 Both sessions plus a guide to download and keep.

• £27 Both sessions and guide, with twelve months to watch the recordings.

The recording will be on the website within 24 hours. You can watch it for four weeks, or for twelve months with the £27 ticket.

In place of a fee, at Glenys’s request, a donation will be made to charity.