I've used Mind (the charity) both personally and as a professional mental-health worker a lot over the years – they're just about the most useful resource in Britain for mental health support. So I've decided to walk around my local park every day throughout January to raise money for them. This might not seem much but it's this type of simple activity that keeps a lot of us going. To make it a bit more of a challenge, however, I'll be taking my camera with me each day in order to make a diary-film about this experience within my local environment, which I hope can be an additional and beneficial outcome for others. It'll involve walking, looking, listening, talking and maybe even some singing…
That was my mission statement when I began this project at the start of January. One of the fun things about setting yourself simple restrictions, however, is allowing the improvisation of daily making within an uncontrollable environment loosen those restrictions almost immediately. This is my second attempt at a long-form diary film within the past few months and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to embrace a lack of preciousness and the idea that what we cannot plan for can be often more interesting and rewarding than what we think we want.
You can watch the film, which is updated weekly until the end of January, here:
And your donation would be greatly appreciated here.
About Owen
Owen Davey (sometimes known as OD Davey for musical purposes) is a Manchester based writer, director and performer, working in song, film and the gallery. In 2014 he founded Video Strolls, a nonprofit that curates art and film events that explore place and journeying.
He is currently an AHRC North West Consortium funded and Disabled Students Allowance supported PhD candidate at the University of Salford, doing practice-based research into ‘The Enfoldment of Song and First Person Filmmaking'.