About The Project
What are the little things that make you happy as you go through your day? Often they are what make life worthwhile.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we all experienced an unprecedented shift in our daily lives. Many of us struggled to find meaning and purpose due to a lack of human connection. As things became harder to endure, many people took up new hobbies, and sought out little things that would bring them joy.Â
Since May of 2021, SeeingHappy was created to celebrate these simple joys, and demonstrate how even in the darkest times there is still a possibility for light. Thousands of photographs later, we continue to believe that noticing these little things and paying attention to them can kickstart a spiral of optimism that builds everyday happiness, resilience, and hope.
Help us to celebrate and spread the good stuff, inspire others by participating in creating a shared piece of art: The Art of Everyday Happiness.Â
Mandy Seligman
About Us
The team here at SeeingHappy are all photographers who enjoy the process of creating memorable photos. We are a mix of educators striving to share their knowledge and psychologists dedicated to increasing happiness in the world.
We came together with one idea: make the world happier by encouraging others to be mindful of the good, to focus on it (literally), share one photo at a time, and create a communal work of art.
We seek purely to promote photography as a means of self-expression, individual well-being, and building a community with a shared vision of showcasing what makes us happy.
Mandy Seligman
Psychologist & Photographer
Mandy Seligman is a psychologist devoted to using positive psychology at all stages of life. As a mom of five and a homeschooler she is passionate about positive psychology in parenting and in education. As a daughter she is passionate about positive psychology in the care of our elderly.
Mandy is also a fine arts photographer and a member of Soho Photo Gallery in NYC. She believes that slowing down, seeing and capturing beauty is a spiritual journey that enriches all our lives – both of the artist and the viewer. She seeks to promote photography as a path to finding happiness and well-being through attending to and sharing what we see as beautiful in our lives.
Roger Irwin
Executive Director
Roger Irwin is a media and well-being facilitator with a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from University of Pennsylvania. As Executive Director, Roger focuses on advancing SeeingHappy’s mission. His research explores how cinema, photography, and connectivity can be used as tools for well-being. For SeeingHappy related inquiries email roger@seeinghappy.org.
Jill Galloway Sherman
Educator & Photographer
Jill Galloway Sherman is an educator of photography in the Philadelphia area. Over the past 20 years Jill has been deeply involved with the Philadelphia arts and education culture. She began teaching at the former Art Institute of Philadelphia and is now an instructor at The Philadelphia Photo Arts Center and an adjunct professor at Saint Joseph’s University. She is also a freelance consultant who works with a wide range of photographers guiding them to further develop their voice and craft.
Focusing her professional energies on developing the skills and appreciation of photography in others, she directs her own artistic energies toward storytelling through photography, collage, and drawing. For Jill, making photographs and art has always been about seeing beauty in the simple moments and sharing those with others.
Lauren Pittenger
Web Designer & Developer
Lauren Pittenger is a website designer and developer committed to using her skills to help coaches and other mental health professionals get their work out to the world. To that end, she is thrilled to support the Seeing Happy project and looks forward to perhaps sharing some of her own photos.
Andrew Trousdale
Photographer
Andrew Trousdale is a photographer from New York City. He works in the non-profit and education space.
He holds an undergraduate degree in English from Georgetown University, and is pursuing a Master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Alec Rill
Photographer
As an efficiency engineer and later as a NYC disaster emergency manager Alec Rill had a professional career seeing the world as it is in order to improve it.
Alec has lived in several countries and traveled the world as a photographer, becoming familiar with the way people live and observing what makes people different but also similar. Those experiences enabled him to see the world as it is, as well as gave him the opportunity to present, via photography, a specific point of view. We see poverty, violence, discrimination, inequality, illness, and natural disasters all around us—but also happiness. How you see photos and what you see in them is a reflection of how you see the world.
As a street photographer, Alec presents the world as a multicultural planet where each individual is unique and where happiness is ever-present. His photographs reveal the resilience of the human spirit despite the difficulties life presents. See more of Alec’s photography at alecrill.myportfolio.com.
Alec is a member of the Soho Photo Gallery; he also leads a photography study group and will be teaching a street photography class at the City University of New York (CUNY).
