‘Nature Heals’: A photographer’s New Forest story
Natural landscapes and the access to the social interactions, hobbies, and activities they offer such as walking and photography have become a lifeline for many. Areas like the New Forest National Park serve as a tangible link to the environment and foster active lifestyles.
These are proven to have long-lasting benefits for people – particularly those battling mental or physical ill health. This is something renowned local photographer, Trevor Parsons, can attest to.
The New Forest’s vast heathlands, woodlands, and coastline became the 55-year-old’s ‘happy place’ when they provided the headspace he felt he needed. They fueled his passion for photography and have since become part of his ‘Nature Heals’ story.
‘Without nature and photography in my life, I really wouldn’t know where I would be today,’ Trevor said. ‘It was my lifeline to my sanity.’
He described how he has struggled with poor mental health in the past and highlighted notable low points in the 1990s and the early 2010s that saw him spiral into depression, anxiety, and paranoia with time off work and periods spent in hospital.
Trevor’s ‘Nature Heals’ story, however, is one of personal recovery and success. It has brought him letters from the King and Sir David Attenborough, has seen him speak at the Natural History Museum, and led to a live interview on Sky News.
‘It was my lifeline’
‘Being in nature with my camera around my neck was really the last connection I had to reality. I couldn’t understand what the doctors, my parents, or my loved ones were saying to me.
‘When you’re going through a breakdown, all your dark thoughts rush around in your head like a tumble dryer, but when I was staring through the lens of my camera, I was concentrating on that one moment in time which had the effect of dulling down my dark thoughts and giving me some much-needed headspace.’
The Dorset resident lives between the New Forest and Cranborne Chase National Landscape and in 2023 had his pictures displayed in an exhibition co-presented by Dorset Museum and Dorchester Arts.
Trevor traced his love for photography back to his childhood and his grandfather who took and developed his own pictures as a member of RAF ground crew in the Second World War, but the 55-year-old said he picked up a camera again around a decade ago.
‘We all need nature in our lives,’ Trevor said. ‘Who would not feel uplifted when they hear a robin sing his heart out? A robin singing helped switch the light back on inside me that made the demons in my head finally disappear.’
Trevor has spent time sharing his ‘Nature Heals’ story in recent years with the hope it can connect with and help others looking for wellness in nature. The Green Health Hub serves as a one-stop shop to find services and share experiences that benefit people and groups in and around the New Forest.
