Six creative photography practices that
connect the heart, mind, and lens.

The Art of Wellbeing

At its best, photography is a deeply personal practice. It’s a way to explore the depths of your heart, to nourish your spirit, to create beauty that makes life more meaningful and joyful. 

If you'd love to move beyond straightforward photo prompts that focus purely on technique, and you're craving a more emotional and intuitive creative experience - The Art of Wellbeing is here for you.

This is a deep dive beyond gear and eye candy - to the very heart of creativity.

 

This is self care through art.
Personal healing through photography.

The Art of Wellbeing is a selection of photography practices created by photographer, curator, and photo juror, Laura Valenti. Each practice prompt fuses photography and personal growth.

This is about using your life experience, your accumulated wisdom, to make images that are deeply significant and meaningful.

Each practice is delivered as an audio recording filled with rich discussion, ideas, and questions to spark insight and visual exploration. The collection is self-paced and self-study.

Let each practice be your focus for a week, a month, or more - each one is conceptually deep enough to be the basis for its own portfolio.

The Six Themes:

1. THRESHOLDS

What does it look like to conceptualize your life’s biggest transitions and threshold experiences? This practice is about metamorphosis. You’ll learn to create images that honor and celebrate the transitions in your life.

2. SANCTUARY

The singular comfort that comes when you’re in your happy place, or with your happy person - how do you photograph that? This practice is about the visual representation of safety and trust.

3. SENSES

How can you photograph coming back to your breath? Or the smell of cinnamon? This practice explores how to ground yourself in your body and create gorgeous images that reflect your sensory experiences.

4. JOY

How does a photographer create images that capture the essence of joy and laughter? This practice goes there.

5. CATHARSIS

What do images of catharsis look like? This practice explores how to convey the depth of release and relief in your life’s most cathartic moments.

6. FEELINGS

Instead of broad generalities, what does it take to make images about very specific emotional experiences? This practice is about making photographs that feel.

 
What’s Included?

Immediately after your purchase, you’ll receive: 

• Six audio lessons

• The Art of Wellbeing Workbook (a lovely, fillable PDF)
   

Purchase The Art of Wellbeing as a gift of creative self care for yourself. Block out a weekend to dive into all the practices at once, or slowly make your way through one at a time. It’s entirely up to you.
  

There are two ways to experience The Art of Wellbeing...

The first option is detailed above. The second option includes everything mentioned above and adds a mentoring component. Here’s what that looks like:
 

Step 1: I will review your past photographic work, your website (if you have one), and any portfolios or other images you want to share. (Yes, I will look at ALL of it.)
 

Step 2: We'll schedule a 60-minute mentoring call. Ask me anything - it’s your time to use however you like. I’ll offer feedback, aesthetic observations, and practical suggestions for how you can reflect your most treasured life lessons and personal transitions in your images. If you’ve heard the advice “Put the photographer in the photograph” but you’re not sure how to do that without taking a selfie, the mentoring option will give you clarity, detailed advice, and guidance on your next steps.

The mentoring option is ideal for people who value detailed feedback, personalized advice, and additional insight to make their images more poignant and powerful.

A bit about me…

I’m Laura Valenti, the artist behind Light Atlas Creative. I’ve had my fingers in a lot of pots in the art world, for over 20 years now. I teach interactive e-courses, support emerging photographers in my creative mentoring program, speak to photo groups, and curate exhibitions for galleries and photo festivals around the world. I also jury photo competitions and serve as a reviewer at national and international portfolio review events, where I help photographers fine-tune their vision and promote their work with more confidence. 

I’m passionate about helping artists clear creative blocks and bring forward their most skillful, authentic, wholehearted work.

Why did I create this e-course? After 25+ years as a working artist, I’ve come to think of photography as an insight practice. The art we make can open doors to deeper reflection and wisdom - and it can fill our lives with more meaning and beauty. My photographs have been a powerful source of healing during difficult periods in my life. Looking back, I can honestly say my work as an artist has made me a stronger person - and I love helping my students use their art to transform their lives.

Align who you are with the art you make…

• If you’re curious about what might happen when you bring your body, heart, and mind into your artistic process, this is for you.

• If you feel like you're just scratching the surface with your images and you want guidance to help you go deeper, this is for you.

• If you have trouble making time for your photography and you need extra creative support to make it happen, this is for you.

• If you're longing to make more heartfelt and authentic images, then yes - The Art of Wellbeing is for you.
   

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time do I need to put in?

Art of Wellbeing is entirely self paced. You can take as much time as you need to savor each lesson fully. 

What kind of camera do I need?

All cameras are welcome! You don’t need anything fancy to take this course. In fact, the simpler, the better! DSLRs, point-and-shoots, smartphones, pinhole cameras made from oatmeal boxes – I have a strict equipment nondiscrimination policy. If it makes you happy to shoot with it, you've got the right gear for this class.

What's your refund policy?

Because you'll get immediate access to the class and all the class resources (and because you'll get to keep your access for three full years), your registration isn't refundable. 

Is this a good class for beginners? 

Since Art of Wellbeing is a conceptual photography course (not a technical class), photographers at every level are welcome. Because of this course’s emphasis on personal insight and experience, even true beginners will benefit from the course. It’s never too early to make your photography more meaningful.

If I'm an advanced photographer, will this course be a good fit?

Our central focus in Art of Wellbeing is using photography as a tool for healing, insight, and growth. So, even advanced photographers will feel at home in this course.