FIFTEEN Bendigo women have captured their life through a lens for a new photography exhibition.
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Beyond Her Lens is on at Bendigo library this week and examines women's resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photos in the exhibition explore the five principles for wellbeing - connect, keep learning, take notice, be active and give.
The project is a collaboration between Bendigo Community Health Services and Women's Health Loddon Mallee and is part of a series of community projects across the Loddon Mallee to address women's wellbeing and connectedness throughout the pandemic.
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Aspiring photographer Vanessa Wiltshire said she jumped at the opportunity to get involved with the project.
"I have done a lot of photography through work and would love to pursue photo journalism eventually," she said. "This was a great opportunity to share photos and connect.
"I know, personally, I found the pandemic difficult in terms of social isolation and connection. The first 12 months was working from home online and the second year I was working at a small rural hospital with a lot of restrictions in terms of connection with colleagues and wearing PPE.
"Photography was a practice in mindfulness. It took some of the pain away of suffering though the pandemic - particularly the social element. That's why this project was important to me, it was a way of connecting with other people."
Fellow photographer Melissa Little said she wanted to get involved in something creative.
"It was very important to have a way to feel connected and I liked the opportunity to meet like-minded women in a creative space," she said. "It was good to merge the creative aspects with the framework for the five ways of wellbeing.
"We got to learn about composition, perspective and other things as a group. For me that was a lot of playing with light and framing."
Ms Little's featured works in the exhibition include a chrysanthemum close-up, a sunset snapped from her back step and her dog looking longingly out the window.
Ms Wiltshire has a photo of her Red Heeler Maggie bounding through a swamp, a picture of a patient's hand intertwined with a nurse's, and one of her and her husband at Lake Cooper featured in the exhibition.
"It was quite an emotional experience," she said.
"I am so grateful to Bendigo Community Health Services and Women's Health Loddon Mallee. Without their initiative our photos wouldn't be on display."
The Beyond Her Lens exhibition is on from June 1 to 7 during the Bendigo Library's opening hours.
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