“Elina is a talented artist and workshop leader, her relaxed and generous style allows participants to explore their own interests and artistic style. Participants working with Elina gain new skills and develop their craft at an impressive pace. Elina brings a lot of creativity, thought-provoking ideas or questions and inspiration to the space that she occupies.”
— Abie Walton, Participation Manager, The North Wall
Outreach Projects
Aspire
Four weekly photography workshops with Aspire clients, who engaged in a variety of activities such as slow shutter photography, portrait and still life as well as a gallery visit with and a photo walk.
The programme gave participants an insight into settings and techniques around exposure, focus and composition as well as an insight into the work of other photographers.
Aspire empower adults facing homelessness, poverty and disadvantage, supporting local people into and towards employment and housing.
See a selection of their work on the Photo Oxford website here.
“When I first came to Photography group I wanted to leave right away because I had been isolating myself for many weeks … Then as each week came it was something to look forward to. I always wanted to try Photography and Elina’s group has inspired me to save for a camera in 2026 😊”
JB Aspire client
Yellow Submarine
Photo Oxford Festival
I worked with members of Yellow Submarine's Reach programme which supports members over 18 with learning disabilities and/or autism. Using digital SLR camera's we went on photo walks around Oxford's streets, museums and galleries and then chose and titled their favourite images to make a series of postcards to share with friends and family.
Their postcards were also displayed in central Oxford for Photo Oxford Festival.
The North Wall Arts Centre
Camera Club
In collaboration with The North Wall Art Centre and their YouthLab programme I have worked with several groups of budding young local photographers aged 12 – 17 to create and then curate their first exhibition. In 2023 we held an out door installation as part of Photo Oxford Festival, in 2024 an exhibition in the Westgate shopping centre and in 2025 an indoor exhibition at Magdalen Road Studios. Each year they work with energy and curiosity to develop skills in photography, image making, selection, reflection and curation.
Pegasus Theatre with Photo Oxford Festival
For this six month project I worked with Looking Forward, an inclusion group run at Pegasus Theatre for vulnerable young women aged 11 to 18 years experiencing challenging circumstances in their lives.
They experimented with photographic skills and considered ways to represent, reveal or conceal themselves and each other, learning that the camera has a different way of seeing and can illuminate and show us something new and unexpected.
Their final images were exhibited in central Oxford’s Covered Market as part of Photo Oxford festival.
When asked to reflect on what they enjoyed and gained through the project, participants offered;
‘collaborating and sharing ideas with each other’, ‘working on one piece of work with everyone involved’, ‘to try every idea first before dismissing it’ and ‘gaining confidence to take more pictures and be around new people’.