Paula Haverty is from Dublin, Ireland. She is a full time single mother of two, and a volunteer and activist in her community.

I participate in the femLENS workshop to learn something new. I found this course so well put together that I soon forgot it was a class as I really enjoyed walking around my area taking pictures, through doing this I gained confidence to approach people I wouldn’t normally. Not knowing what, where, who I wanted to photograph I soon found my theme Balgaddy.

My Community is so diverse I really wanted to capture it, I also wanted to highlight our major issues here in Balgaddy: anti-social behaviour, illegal dumping, lack of resources.

What I most like with the femLENS Project was the homework, learning new skills, having new tools for my toolbox, tools that will stay with me for life. The tutor Jekaterina Saveljeva was very understanding in our daily living, I was able to open up more through my pictures. I came away feeling like a rich woman as I found a new passion, thanks to femLENS as I am empowered to grow more in my new adventure.