It is emilie’s mission to give support to those who have experienced the loss of a loved one through a creative outlet.

Emilie Sandy has been working as a professional portrait photographer for over two decades, a qualified teacher — lecturing in Photography in Higher Education for 10 years; trained with Photovoice in participatory photography, and is currently developing a mindfulness approach to her workshops.

Since the death of her parents in 2012, Emilie discovered the therapeutic benefits of storytelling through photography. It was during her Masters in Photography that she created a personal project representing the absence and presence of her parents. Being grateful for the care that her father received at the Sue Ryder Hospice, she devised a collaborative pilot program with the day hospice, however, COVID-19 put a stop to that. However, during lockdown, Emilie instigated an online workshop called Loss and Change that involved people who had experienced the loss of a loved one during the pandemic, the workshop was facilitated by Emilie and Dr. Neil Gibson.

Participatory projects and workshops aim to create the opportunity to use a channel of communication for participants to represent, and express, themselves and their experience in a visual form - ultimately with the hope of contributing to their well-being.

View Emilie’s recent work about the loss of her parents – I Found A Small Lemon Tree