We are two friends, both artists and designers, one educator, and one entrepreneur. We strongly identify with art and design, urban culture, creativity, human rights, and environmental protection. Our passions and appreciations are photography, yoga, travel, the sea, the green world, and the responsible urban environment.
- DUŠKA BOBAN is a Split-based artist and educator, who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, the University of Zagreb in 2000. In 2013, she completed her postgraduate study in visual communications at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, Slovenia. With a background in art and visual communication, she has undergone different training programs to improve performances in media, design for social change, and therapeutic photography. In addition to exhibiting her artwork in museums and galleries, for seventeen years she taught Photography, Video, and Media Projects at School for Design, Graphics, and Sustainable Building in Split. She has been conducting different photography workshops, among which are training courses within Erasmus+ programs, teaching different kinds of educators from all over the EU how to implement photography in their teachings. For more, you can visit www.duskaboban.net.
- GORANA VEŽIĆ is a Split-based fashion designer, art gallery owner, and yoga teacher who graduated from the Faculty of Maritime Studies, at the University of Split in 2002. After 3 years of working in the field, she came back to her first interest – art and design. For 20 years she has been leading an art and fashion gallery Arterija in the ancient city center of Split, where she promotes her work and the work of other designers from the region. Gorana started to practice yoga in 2000. As going deeper into yoga she started practicing Ashtanga yoga and became a teacher of this style in 2010. Besides teaching at her studio in Split, she was teaching and organizing retreats in her homeland and India, the motherland of yoga. Her annual one-month-long journeys to India have strongly influenced her yoga practice but did not leave her without an understanding of the needs of Westerners. Her yoga style is based on ashtanga tradition and pranayama breathing exercises and you can practice it at Yoga Corner Split.
PARTICIPANTS’ OPINIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
Attending the Therapeutic & Mindful Photography Workshop at Knap was a very positive and fulfilling experience beyond my expectations. I was attracted only by curiosity because it was a field I’d never heard of before. Aside from being fond of photography for a long time, during the last two years, I experienced very satisfying psychotherapy, and I assumed that the combination of the two must be good.
In short, this workshop helped me to rediscover and deepen my approach to photography. I didn’t expect to get so fascinated by the discovery of the capacity of photographs to reflect one’s inner world, of the realization of how mightful its simplicity is when it comes to opening up and building connections with the group of participants.
That gradually built familiarity with the group, and starting to know also me better was the most precious benefit of the workshop. I am very grateful for it to the workshop facilitator and other wonderful people I met there.
D.K. (44) architect
Therapeutic & Mindful Photography Program
I have attended Duška’s therapeutic photography workshops twice, and I thoroughly enjoyed the group work, different approaches to the image, and the variety of frames or motifs. I think that Duška is an excellent facilitator, very gentle and supportive, yet stimulating and insightful. Through her guidance, I was able to learn a lot about photography and how to read a picture.
M.B. (36), cultural worker
With Duška’s guidance in the workshop, I began to look at my photographs differently. I became aware of how my photos reflect my emotions and how strongly and loudly they speak, even when I can’t find the right words.
P. (27) speech-language pathologist
Therapeutic & Mindful Photography Program
“Dear Duška, You can’t imagine the impact your class had on me. Since that day, I’m always looking at my surroundings and photographing what seems to reveal my state of mind, my mood, etc. It’s almost like a diary of my emotions in images I’ve collected. Thank you for waking me up to this role of photography. This has been very inspiring to work with my students as I encourage them to do the same and share their emotions with me.Now that I’ve found you, I’ll continue to follow your work on social media.“
Maria Rodrigues Henriques (48)
Special Education Teacher
Teacher trainer in the Inclusive Education domain
Teacher Training program: “Photography in Education”