How to celebrate International Men’s Day 2017
We’ve all heard of International Women’s Day, but did you know that there’s also an International Men’s Day? Today marks to celebration of Britain’s men and boys in all their diversity as well as highlighting some serious issues including mental health.
Key objectives of the day include:
- Men and boy’s health
- Improving gender relations
- Promoting gender equality
- Highlighting positive male role models
International Men’s Day (IMD) is celebrated in more than 60 countries and is ‘an occasion for men to celebrate their achievements and contributions, in particular their contributions to community, family, marriage, and child care while highlighting the discrimination against them’.
The theme
For 2017, the theme of IMD is ‘Celebrate Men and Boys’.
The worrying world statistics on suicide rates and mental health issues in men and boys means that this day is the perfect opportunity to shine a spotlight on them. Men also suffer discrimination in family law in most countries, and a problem in western nations is a high rate of men and boys dropping behind in school and further education.
There’s so much that can be done with the theme this year, including taking a creative approach with your photography skills. Flexing those create muscles is also proven to help with mental health issues and to help you or those you love, find an escape from worries that are getting them down. Check out the Parrot Print guide to the mental health benefits of photography.
How to celebrate
What better way to celebrate this day – or any day where you feel the men and boys in your life need some attention – than by using your camera to make a fuss of them. Whether this is in the form of an individual photoshoot, where all the attention is focused on them; a family photograph to celebrate the strong bond of family; or even a day out where you can capture candid photos of your nearest and dearest.
Your favourite image (or images) can then be turned into a canvas print to be treasured in your home, or even as a gift to the man or boy I question.
Another route to go down, is giving the fella being celebrated a camera as a gift to start them on their own photography journey. It could turn into a life-long passion that can help them through tough times as a way to let out creativity and work through some issues. If the person in question is a boy, you can read our guide to getting children interested in photography – they’re sure to love it!
Let us know how you will be celebrating this year by tagging us in your photography triumphs on Twitter and Facebook!