Recovery In Focus: Marcus Fair

Marcus first met Jill Whittingham, a highly-respected drug and alcohol counsellor who is in long-term recovery, when he was in rehab. He really enjoyed her group sessions. He knew she loved photography and some years later he asked her if they could do something together, using photography in a therapeutic way. The result is Recovery in Focus, which primarily involves people in early recovery. It’s been incredibly popular and is now funded for two years by the National Lottery. 

The project involves skilling up people in photography using their own mobile phones. They are taught about composition, lighting and various other matters, and taken to a variety of locations. They visit photography exhibitions, and also learn how famous photographers look at things. The course involves a full day every Wednesday for ten weeks. One week participants go out on location, where they take many photographs, and the next they spend in the classroom. They discuss what they were thinking at the time of taking a photograph, and feedback is given by Jill, Marcus or another member of Eternal Media. All the time, participants are interacting with other people in recovery—they are forming a support network. In the days between each session, participants go out and take photographs and interact with each other. Family members get involved as well. 

In learning a specific skill, photography, they are also earning and practising life skills as they interact with their fellow participants. They are learning to trust, and be trusted, and to communicate with and be at ease with others, skills that have been impaired or destroyed during their addiction. 

Jill and Marcus also involve people in longer-term recovery. Marcus points out that recovery works by osmosis. If he’s around people in recovery, positively charged people, he starts to think positively. People in early recovery participating in Recovery in Focus see and learn from those in long-term recovery that recovery is possible. Their thinking and emotions become positively charged. Marcus Fair is Founder of Eternal Media. 16 January 2024.