Josh’s story
Thanks for the excellent feature ‘Photography can save your life’ (AP 24 February), specifically the part on Matt Doogue and his macro work. Matt has been an inspiration for me and Josh, my 15-year- old son, for some time and he has given tremendous support to Josh who suffers with Tourette’s syndrome.
Josh started wildlife photography with me about four years ago and his Tourette’s symptoms were significantly reduced while he was using the camera. It all started with having an image shown on BBC’s Springwatch. This led us to enter the 2016 BWPA where he was highly commended.
We entered him into the 2017 RSPCA Young Photographer Awards where he won both 3rd place and the overall 1st place in the 12-15 category. He has spoken and received online support through social media from Matt, and seeing how others cope with mental health issues too is great for him to see.
Josh has set his heart on photography as a career and his school wholeheartedly supports him: he has galleries displayed in the school and is enrolled on a course where his photography will be used to gain his GCSE. His Instagram account, which he created and promoted by himself, has over 1,280 followers.
Josh also received a grant from Tourette’s Action to help fund equipment for wildlife photography. He has been featured in local magazines and local newspaper articles, and recently took part in BBC Radio 4’s Tweet of the Day segment (about short- eared owls) – his details were passed to the BBC by our local wildlife trust, who we didn’t even know were aware of Josh. Lee Myers Amazing work, Josh. Do stay in touch and let us know of future successes – Geoff Harris, deputy editor