How portrait photography can help your mental health
May 19, 2021
Peter Dench meets John Mannell, whose impromptu daily portrait photography has proved to be a powerful creative and emotional outlet during challenging times
On 1 January 2017, just after midnight, a slightly merry John Mannell raised his Olympus camera to his eye and took a portrait of his friend Olly and a woman theyâd just met (below). An innocuous act repeated by millions across the country celebrating new year. For John, that fraction of a second marked the end of a long and often harrowing chapter in his life and the beginnings of a new and more positive one.