Decluttering...

  I have been attempting to declutter my home lately.  I must admit to being one who likes to save things.  Things people give me, things I pick up along the way..."stuff".   But recently I have been blessing them and setting them free.  In the process I have found that it is opening up a whole new way of being for me and although I have a long way to go yet, I am enjoying this liberation from "thingfulness".

When I let go of what I
 am, I become what
 I can be.

- Lao Tzu

   I have found that having fewer "options" is really quite liberating, in the camera bag as well as the clothes closet.  I long ago dispensed with carrying multiple lenses and now I am considering a smaller, lighter camera.  The technology has advanced to such a degree that it is possible to make beautiful images without all the photographic paraphernalia that we use to lug around.  When you are burdened down with equipment then it is the equipment, and your relationship to it, that takes center stage.  Paring down is becoming more and more important to me as I journey along this path.  I want to immerse myself in simplicity in as many areas as possible in the year to come.

Look for the least to say the most.

   Some call it "minimalism" but you could call it the "uncluttered image".  Looking for the least to say the most is another way to declutter your photographic thinking.  I'll be looking at that as well this year.  Living, and photographing, in a "minimal" way isn't about about doing without, it is about doing within.  We have everything we need already inside us...all the rest is just accoutrement.  When you start tripping over them, it is time to let them go.

Making Meaning Through Contemplative Photography: Part Two

Interaction - 2 December 2014

When we put a frame 

around an image,

taking it out of its 

context as we do

when we photograph, we

 are in fact constructing a

 version of reality.  We

are imposing a way of 

seeing, a meaning,

upon the reality that 

we are receiving.

- Howard Zehr

   This is how Zehr begins his chapter on making meaning in photography.  I am developing a much greater appreciation of this idea through my pond abstractions.  I can make the meaning more obvious by the way I frame the image.

   What I ask myself before I make a photograph on location relates strongly to my Taoist leanings.  "Where is the energy of this place at this moment?"  All landscape has an intrinsic energy or Qi in Taoist terms.  This day, it was in the interactions and tensions between the areas of frozen and open water in the pond.  So, I narrowed my viewpoint to a specific area of the pond's surface where I thought the energy of interaction was the strongest.  The resulting image is above.  I think it is one of my most powerful images of the pond to date.

    When you can discern the Qi in a place you will find yourself settling into what the Taoist call Te.  It is a state where you can just seamlessly relate to what is in front of you and the photographs you can make will resonate with personal meaning for you.  It doesn't happen every time, maybe not even half the time, but when it does you will know...your photographs will show it.  I think it shows in this image.

    When you next go out to photograph, ask yourself, "Where do I feel the energy lies at this place at this moment?" and compose your photographs around that area.  There you will be able to distill and manifest meaning but remember, it will not be the same the next day.  Energy flows and changes and your role as a contemplative photographer is to make meaning from what you perceive...at that particular moment.

   If you want to read a bit about the Taoist principles of Te and Qi, you can link to this past post...

    Characteristics of a Photographic Sage - Part IX: Te

  

The Characteristics of the Photographic Sage: part X - "With a Childs Eye"

"...innocence of eye has a quality of its own.  It means to see as a child sees, with freshness and acknowledgment of the wonder;  it also  means to see as an adult sees who has gone full circle and once again sees as a child - with freshness and an even deeper 

sense of wonder."

 Minor White

 The final characteristic of the Photographic Sage is the ability to see the world with the eye of a child.  I have mentioned before that Taoists are often perceived as having a child-like demeanor. I hope you have time to read "The Tao of Pooh"; you will understand what I mean.  They marvel at ordinary things the rest of the world over-looks.  They find every moment a miracle.  I think this is an excellent characteristic to end this series with as it also ties back very nicely to the other dimension of this blog...Contemplative Photography.

   Both the Taoist and the Contemplative Photographer are exploring souls.  It is this desire to delve deeply, to try and understand the world around them that make both extremely sensitive to the nuances of Nature, they absorb but don't judge. They  listen to the landscape and respect what they hear.  They relate to the world more through their hearts than their minds.  Children do that too.  They don't analyze what they experience, they are content with the experience itself.  They wander from moment to moment without a clear agenda and when something catches their attention they stop and explore it...and explore it in depth. A cursory look is not enough.  If you hand a small child a new toy one of the first thing they'll do with it is put it in their mouth! The Contemplative Photographer/Photographic Sage savors the world in much the same way...through all the senses.  They take joy in the experience for it's own sake and not with any hidden agenda.

   As I have progressed in my journey as a photographer I have always tried to keep to the joyous experience.  If photography gets to be "business" or I begin to take myself too seriously, I try to remember the words of the Taoist sage, Lao-tzu.   I think it is a good way to end this series.

My teachings are easy to understand

and easy to put into practice.

Yet your intellect will never grasp them,

and if you try to practice them, you will fail.

My teachings are older than the world.

How can you grasp their meaning?

If you want to know me,

look inside your heart.

 Tao Te Ching - 70

The Light from Within

    A Final Practice for the Week:

     In this final week I want you to find a place where you can wander, at your leisure. Although this may sound like last weeks practice, there is a subtle difference. If you can, turn off your adult, rationalizing brain. Try to experience the landscape as a child would.  Find a wonderfully interesting place...a park, a beach, a garden in Spring bloom, an ancient cemetery.  Go with no agenda, no expectations and no time limit. With your mind wide open to any possibility, set out to see the place with the eyes of a child...with freshness and wonder. Climb a tree, lay in the grass, play in a puddle. Don't look for the photographs, they will find you.

What caught your eye? What wonderful things did you discover? Were you compelled to try a new viewpoint?  Did  you slow your pace, wandering from place to place, and savor your time there?  Above all else, do you now look at the world with fresh, unprejudiced eyes?

   I sincerely hope you will always keep the wonder and joy alive in your work.  I also hope you will share some of your photographs on our Flickr site, along with your reflections. I look forward to hearing from my fellow Photographic Sages!




  



  

   

The Characteristics of a Photographic Sage - part IX : Te

Know the light,

But keep to the shadow.

Become a pattern 

To all under heaven.

As a pattern repeats itself,

Act in constant Virtue;

Return to the beginning.

Tao te Ching - 28 

 The photographic sage exhibits the quality of Te which is generally translated as virtue or power.  By power, I am not talking about physical strength or domination but an internal power which comes about when we can perform our photographic work in a seamless flow of insight and execution. When we sense the Qi,or natural energy, of a place, Te can occur.   By virtue, I mean being true to yourself...to who you are as a person and a photographer. Virtue is artistic honesty. Contemplative photographers are not concerned with the latest photographic trends, they make photographs that speak to them...not to the art market.

      Te is the characteristic most sought after by the Contemplative Photographer.  It is difficult state to achieve but when it is, when everything falls into place and you feel truly one with your camera, the sensation is quite exhilarating.  You feel, however briefly, the pure power of creative expression...when your personal intentions seem to align themselves with Natures energy. You achieve a level of mastery of the photographic medium that can be surprising.  What normally interferes or interrupts Te is our egos.  We begin to rationalize, to justify, to project, to doubt and, well, poof!...it disappears.

   For me, one of those "Te-moments" came when I was in Taos, New Mexico.  I came to photograph one of the supreme icons in the art world - St. Francis Church in Rancho de Taos.  Paul Strand had created several memorable photographs of it and Georgia O'Keeffe had painted it numerous times.  It was a little like a pilgrimage to a holy shrine.  How could I even attempt to represent this place?  What could I say that hadn't already been said by far greater artists than myself?  As the famous back view of the church loomed before me, the one EVERYONE photographs, I turned away from it and started to walk around the church.  Slowly, first one way, then another. During the walk I felt that energy start to flow and I made image after image. It reminded me of the time I was in St. Petersburg in Russia at Easter and I watched the priests and congregation slowly walk around and around the cathedral carrying their candles and chanting. I didn't understand why they did it; I do now.  It was a bit hypnotic. The dozen or so images I made on my circumnavigation of St. Francis Church were my own interpretation and none referred back to the classic images of Strand or O'Keeffe.  The more I walked, the more abstract my images became culminating in my favorite photograph below.

   I very much doubt I would have made that photograph if I'd not tapped into the Qi of that remarkable place. I'm not sure how it all came about but everything seemed to contribute to the feeling... the sun, the shadows cast by the church, the old dog that followed my footsteps, the sense of suspended time...perhaps all of it. I know I will never forget it.

   I will adapt a quote from photographer Wynn Bullock because it suits the context of this post.

"I didn't want to tell the church what it was.  I wanted the church to tell me something and through me express it's meaning..."

   For the Taoist, Te can be achieved when you allow the Tao to flow through you.  You don't fight it or force it.

  "True mastery can be gained

by letting things go their own way.

It can't be gained by interfering."

Tao te Ching - 48

   Now, if all this sounds a tad "new agey" and metaphysical, I assure you it really isn't.  People use more common phrases for the experience like "being in the zone". Everyone has experienced it at some point in their lives. Certain places enhance this experience...they are called "Thin Places".  There are famous ones all around the world but they can be as near as your own backyard. Taos is a "thin place". Artists have been attracted to it for decades. Your creativity reaches new levels in these places. Enjoy it when it happens...and I hope you have your camera with you when it does!

A  Little Practice for the Week:

   This is one characteristic that is nearly impossible to practice.  It happens when we least expect it and only when we put our egos and our skepticism away and let it happen.  I find that the best way to tap into the Te is to go to a beautiful place in nature...somewhere you've been many times and feel especially "in tuned" with.  Spend some time there...walk around just taking it all in...trying to see it with fresh eyes.  Sit for a time and see what suggests itself.  If everything is in sync you will know what to do.  The hardest thing is to quiet your mind and not to anticipate anything. You want to open all your senses...don't try to focus on only one thing. As I've said before, it is just a practice of letting go...letting the Tao and it's energy flow through you.  If you do, then you will know  what images to make and when. Simple.  Well, not really. It takes practice, and trust and patience but it will happen. Perhaps you will have to return again and again but at some point you will feel the pull of the Qi and then it IS simple!

The Characteristics of a Photographic Sage-Part VIII: A Resourceful Spirit

Darkness within Darkness.

The gateway to all understanding.

Tao te Ching - 1

   A Photographic Sage rises to the challenge of difficult situations.  They make the proverbial "lemonade from lifes lemons". In the typical Taoist paradoxical way of thinking, they can be said to take joy in adversity.  To accomplish this, a photographer must be resourceful.  They will actively seek out novel solutions.  They exploit adversity turning it into compelling images.

   I found myself in Galway, Ireland one morning caught up in the hustle and bustle of this modern city.  Truthfully, it is not an environment I feel most at home in.  The crowds and the noise were very distracting indeed.  At first, I could find nothing joyful in the experience so I sat down on a bench for a little "time out".  From that perspective, a couple of feet lower, I could observe the street scene very differently...almost the way a child must see it.  I started to think about how much more overwhelming it must be for a small child to walk these busy streets than it was for me. I decided to try to emulate that sensation.  When I stood up, I lengthened the neck strap of my camera so that it hung about hip level.  I continued down the street releasing the shutter randomly.  By the time I sat down again I'd made these two images among many others.  The little boy seems almost threatened by the looming black figure in the foreground and the little girl seems to be day dreaming that she was somewhere else while she waits for her mother to finish buying lunch.

   I too had been day dreaming of the green hills and open spaces I'd left behind that morning when I came to Galway.  Instead of embracing the moment, I was projecting myself into another.  This is never a good thing to do.  Luckily, I did find some joy in the chaos of the city experience that day, through the eyes of a child. I realized that every moment, even uncomfortable ones, has it's hidden treasures. Photographers are always experiencing difficult situations...very often it is the weather that challenges them.  The Photographic Sage welcomes the challenges of any difficulty they may encounter knowing that something wonderful may be in store for them. 

"Often while traveling with a camera,

we arrive just as the sun slips over the

horizon of the moment, too late to

to expose film, only time enough to

expose our hearts."

Minor White

A Little Practice for the Week:

   Try to put yourself into a place where you would never, under normal situations, go to photograph. It might be a city, a flea market, race track or even the town dump!  Your challenge is to find one compelling image...you will undoubtedly find many, many more it you tap into the spirit of the place.  There are no unacceptable locations only uninspired photographers.

 What did you find compelling about this "uncomfortable" place?  What shouted out to you,"Photograph ME!" Taking a photograph is a response to that call.  Clicking the shutter says, "Yes, I hear you."   

The Characteristics of a Photographic Sage - Part VII: "Seeing the Sacred in the Commonplace"

   "No place is boring if you have a good night's sleep

and a pocketful of unexposed film." - Robert Adams

   A Photographic Sage has the ability to see wondrous things in ordinary places. Nothing is unacceptable or too lowly for his compassionate eye.  I think this is the characteristic that I recognized in my own work right from the beginning.  I feel  very much at home in simple, rural settings and around genuinely ordinary folks.  I truly find their faces, the details of their lives so photograph-able!  My series and book - "First Person Rural: a portrait of a Maine town" was all about finding the sacred in the commonplace.All the photographs in this post are from the book. The photograph on the left is called "Looking for Marshmallows".  It speaks to the tender relationship between a man and his cattle...a relationship of caring and mutual trust. If only human beings could relate to each other in that way! Trust is one of those eternal truths that, for me at least, refers to my relationship with the divine.

   This search for the "divine" is often associated with being a contemplative.  As a Contemplative Photographer I find that, if I can borrow the title of one of my favorite books on photography, "God is at Eye Level" .  In Taoism one learns that the perception of the divine is easily accessible by simply contemplating nature...or a grandmother peeling apples for a pie for her grandchild.



 I just concluded an on-line course called "Eyes of the Heart" which is offered through Abby of the Arts.  Through a 6 week contemplative practice, you can really explore this particular characteristic of a Photographic Sage in depth.  There is a link on the right to this wonderful site and I encourage my fellow sages-in-training to check it out.  I've always loved the saying, "God is in the details" and this course certainly demonstrates that in a profound way.

   As to that book I mentioned previously, God is at Eye Level...I must strongly recommend it. There are few books on photography that have impacted me more. The author, Jan Phillips, has penned a sensitive and insightful text that is a must read for any person interested in the concept of contemplative photography.  Despite its title, it is not "religious" in any way.  It is very much in keeping with the Tao te Ching which never mentions the word "God" but is full of spiritual substance.  There is an essential spirituality that flows through everything and its presence can be sensed by those who pause and open themselves to it.  I often think that when I'm sitting quietly, listening to the landscape, it is that energy -Qi as it is called- that I'm tuning in to.

   On another level, this characteristic is also about acceptance...taking the angry faces with the smiling ones...the grey, overcast days with the sunny.  If you do this on a regular basis you may find yourself re-defining your concept of "beauty".  All these things are part of a dance we are engaged in everyday, a dance with the divine. The tune may change from day to day but taking part in it brings each of us to the place we need to be.

The Sage has no destination in view

and makes use of anything life

happens to bring his way.

Tao te Ching - 59

 A Little Practice for the Week:

  Everyone has their own concept of the "divine" regardless what their religion is or if they, in fact, have a religion. I believe it is what attracted me to Taoism in the first place...the spirituality without the dogma. For this exercise, let's define the "divine" as the quality in something that makes one reflect on the sense of an eternal truth...a truth that transcends the everyday.

    What are those "truths" for you?  Where can you see them?  In what ways do they manifest themselves in our day-to-day lives?


   Now go in search of these truths in common places.You can be as abstract or as literal as you like.Journal, journal, journal!  This is pretty heady stuff and it deserves your serious reflection.Contemplative Photographers spend a great deal of their "off" times (times when they are not making photographs) in studied reflection. I guarantee you will never see things the same way again!
    

The Characteristics of a Photographic Sage - part VI: "Non-attachment"

"The best way to go into unknown territory

is to go in ignorant." - Dorothea Lange

   This is one characteristic that I have the most trouble with...I get very attached to subjects and to places!  But being passionate about your art doesn't mean being so obsessed with it that you can't put it aside when the time comes...as it inevitably will.  Knowing when to "walk away" is healthy and surprisingly invigorating. Every once in awhile one has to wipe the slate clean and begin again. Over the past 7 years I have done it several times and it has always brought surprising results.

 When I was in the Hebrides in 2005 I spent most of my time photographing the land and details within the landscape. Once I had released my attachment to Paul Strand, I was able to see things with fresh eyes.  One thing that caught my attention, because I allowed myself to be open to new possibilities, was the prevalence of white horses. For the next 4 years, in Ireland as well as Scotland, I pursued my "Celtic Horse" images. I was fascinated by the mythology as well as the beautiful sculptural forms these creatures had.  Then, it was time to let it go.  This past summer on South Uist I didn't make one detail study of a horse.  I saw them, of course, but I was no longer attached to the idea of photographing them.
   This allowed me to pay more attention to the land itself and, most particularly, the amazing skies. This led to a series called "Hebridean Skies" and THAT led to

having  the photograph on the right chosen for the
February edition of Scottish Life Magazine!   

   I also had to "let go" of another attachment on that trip....portraits. I had come to South Uist to do portraits. After the successful exhibit and companion book, First Person Rural: a portrait of a Maine town, I thought, "Why not do the same thing on South Uist?" But the land and circumstances had other plans. Thankfully, I listened to what the land was telling me and the Hebridean Skies series was created.

He who defines himself

can't know who he really is...

He who clings to his work

will create nothing that endures.

If you want to accord with the Tao,

just do your job, then let go.

Tao te Ching - 24

Part of your "job" as a photographer is to construct meaningful series or projects that allow you to fully explore a subject or location.  All artists in all mediums work this way. Knowing when to let it be finished is an important part of the job as well.

   There is a great sense of closure at the end of a project.  Rural Geometry was one such project.  I'd worked on it for 6 years and this past December held an exhibition of the resulting images. It was done.  I'd learned a lot from that project and I wonder how I will approach the architecture of Paris this summer?  Hopefully with refined but fresh eyes.

   This non-attachment led me to create my favorite sky image at Loch Bee on South Uist. I had heard of the famous mute swans that live on the loch and went day after day in the hopes of seeing them.  That persistence did not result in any swans but the loch had other lessons to teach.

"Sometimes I get to places just when God's ready to have someone click the shutter."

- Ansel Adams

   That's exactly how I felt when I came upon this sight!  Even the tiny cow seemed heaven sent! It gave a sense of scale to the amazing clouds.
   This photograph could also be an illustration of an important element of Taoist philosophy.  Earth is but a reflection of Heaven...What is above is also below.
  

Now A Little Practice for the Week:

   Look around your town, your neighborhood, even your own backyard and see if you can discover a series there.  It might be returning many times to photograph a place in all different lights and in all different weather. (Think Monet and his haystacks). I once heard of a woman who decided to photograph her house from the viewpoint of her cat!  Try to stay unattached to preconceptions - don't fall back onto the tried and true imagery of the past.  Most importantly, give yourself a time limit...a month, a week, even an hour...it doesn't matter.  What does matter is you throw yourself totally into the project.  Keep a journal, reflect on the images you are making, explore new possibilities then - LET IT GO!

The Characteristics of a Photographic Sage - part V: "A Harmony of Opposites"...

Being and non-being create each other.

Difficult and easy support each other.

Long and short define each other.

High and low depend on each other.

Before and after follow each other.

Tao te Ching - 2

   In Taoism, Nature is seen as a delicate balance of both masculine and feminine principles.  Nothing exists without its compliment and the experience of opposites is a basic rhythm of life.  Most people are familiar with the Yin/Yang symbol.  It is an elegantly simply graphic representation of this essential component of Taoist philosophy.  I would recommend that the reader  look at some of the excellent sites dedicated to this idea...there are many. I've posted a link to just one.  The Harmony of Opposites  is also a useful concept for the Contemplative Photographer.

   I printed out a large Yin/Yang symbol in the center of a piece of paper. On the left side, I wrote all the characteristics of photographs I like...ones that I thought made a "beautiful" image.  On the right side I wrote the opposite...what I thought was "ugly" in photographs I had seen.  Then I tried to reconcile both sides. I asked myself, "Why do I define "beauty" and "ugliness" in this way?  Does it relate to the photographers I have always admired or is there something deeper at work here?  What am I missing? As you see in the Yin/Yang symbol, there is a small dot of the opposite contained in each. It is an important thing to remember the next time you find yourself rejecting a subject as unimportant or unappealing...it contains the seed of its opposite, you must look deeply to find it.

   I think this is important for all photographers to do from time to time. Not only for reflecting on the personal style of their work but for subject matter as well.  Beauty can be found in the most mundane of locations.Sometimes it is no further away than your own backyard.

   The photograph above was one of the very first images I made back in 2005.  I had just purchased my new digital camera and I couldn't wait to photograph...something...anything! Maine was buried after a February snowstorm and at first I thought I'd have to wait until the roads cleared and I could get to a "desirable" location.  I then remembered the old saying, "Bloom where you're planted" so I pulled on my boots and trudged out into the snow covered garden behind the house . After 7 years, it is still one of my favorite images.

   It has many of the characteristics that I've always admired in Chinese ink brush paintings...simplicity, delicate line, an  asymmetrical balance, and open space for the eye to rest. It also possesses a subtle harmony of opposites. The solid wire lines of the old fence and its shadow equivalent etched on the snow.

  A Little Practice for the Week:

   The photograph on the right is from my "First Person Rural" book and I think it is a good example at how paying attention to the "opposites" helps increase the depth and intricacy of an image.

   I photographed this lovely child against the rough wall of rusted chains in her great-grandfathers old barn. I loved the juxtaposition of her soft cheek and the rust.  It also speaks to the idea of tradition and honoring the past which is a strong part of the Maine character.

   Spend some time this week looking for opposites and interesting juxtapositions.  Find them naturally occurring in nature or around your house or create your own.

   A Photographic Sage uses subtle and complimentary contrasts to enrich their work and create a "harmony of opposites".

The Characteristics of a Photographic Sage - part IV "Sieze the Moment"

"There is only one moment when a picture is there,

and an instant later it is gone forever.  My memory

is full of those images that were lost."

- Margaret Bourke-White

   A Photographic Sage is always open to the spontaneous.  They recognize the opportunity in the unforeseen and they trust their instincts.  Being spontaneous is a gift and it is sometimes difficult to achieve but it is very often rewarding and energizing.     
                                                                           

"The Sage allows things to happen.

She shapes events as they come.

She steps out of the way and

lets the Tao speak for itself."

Tao te Ching - 45

   This "stepping out of the way" is essential to the Contemplative Photographer as well. Through reflection you can become so attuned to the inherent energy of a moment or a place that allowing yourself to be spontaneous naturally follows.  This is where, for me, the contemplative and the Taoist merge. By loosing yourself you will find an unexplored dimension of yourself.

    In Taoism, this "inherent energy" is called Qi. It flows through everything and, like the flowing river, it follows its own path.  So it is for anyone who picks up a camera...you will follow your own path and in your own time you will come to where you should be.

   Water is a constant theme and the supreme metaphor in Taoism.  For this discussion, we can say that flowing water is "spontaneous", changing its path as it meets rocks, flowing around and over, never hindered.  But as we know, given time, water will wear away the hardest stone.  Only Man can build dams and stop the natural flow.


   As photographers we have all experience "dams" in the creative process. Becoming more spontaneous, more willing to "seize the moment"and "go with the flow", we will break through even the strongest of those dams. When I travel to new places, the "dam" I often encounter is Time. When you have a rigid schedule, an unvarying itinerary, it prevents you from following the spontaneous moments that will,  most certainly, occur on your trip.  I've tried in recent years to do away with that element in my travels. I go to a place, settle in and explore. I trust that the landscape will direct me.  I will know where to go next and when.

"...he has no destination in view

and makes use of anything

life happens to bring his way.

Nothing is impossible for him,

Because he has let go..."

Tao te Ching - 59

A Little Practice for the Week:

   Practicing to be more spontaneous seems, to me, to be a contradiction of terms. So, rather than say "a little practice for the week" I will say "an opportunity for the week".  I love to wander around in bookstores.  Not with the intention of looking for anything in particular, but to, well, just see what presents itself.  I don't contain myself to just the photography or travel books but will explore any aisle that catches my eye.
   Wander around and see what might offer you the opportunity to be spontaneous...a cook book might inspire a trip to photograph the sights and colors of a farmer's market...an historical biography may get you thinking about returning to your roots; to a place in your past...a gardening book can have you seeking out botanical gardens to photograph the flowers and plants.  When something rings clearly for you, when it pulls on your heart strings, be spontaneous...grab your camera and just go!  You might be pleasantly surprised at what you discover.

Being present in the moment allows you to experience all the subtle nuances that are there. Wonderful photographs are waiting to be made...be still and listen for them.

    

The Characteristics of a Photographic Sage - part III "Wu-Wei"

   This third characteristic of the Photographic Sage could also be described as "effortless effort", another of those wonderful Tao paradoxes.  It is often misconstrued as passivity but it is anything but that.  A dancer or athlete practices countless hours perfecting their technique so when it is time to perform onlookers are amazed at how effortless it appears. It is the same for the Photographic Sage.  Countless hours of photographing, editing, selecting, rejecting, study, and reflection must come before they take on an almost effortless relationship with their cameras and their subjects. But there is another dimension to Wu-Wei, at least as it applies to photography.

Practice not-doing,

and everything will fall into place

Tao te Ching - 3

   As the first word in the above quote admonishes, "not-doing" takes practice! You have to actively engaged in not-doing!  In my post on Visual Listening, I describe a kind of Wu-Wei approach...it requires that the photographer practice the Three B's...Be Still, Be Patient and Be Present.  While Visual Listening is a contemplative practice prior to photographing, Wu-Wei can be thought of as the practice of actively not looking for the photograph...of letting the photograph come to you but, nonetheless, being ready when it does come!
 
   The photographs above and below were taken at Shannon Airport while I was waiting for my flight.  I simply put the camera on the table where I was sitting and released the shutter from time to time, constantly rotating it but never looking through the lens. The camera was in auto-mode of course.  I only photographed what came to me.  I got some interesting images and I think this technique could work virtually anywhere...on a park bench, at a sidewalk cafe or waiting for a bus!  Let the photograph come to you.

    I believe there are many approaches to using Wu-Wei as a contemplative photographer.  In an earlier post I spoke about the danger of allowing a tourist's guidebook to direct your photographic efforts.  Naturally, one consults them when you travel to a new area but strict reliance on their agendas is extremely stifling.  One thing I always do when I travel is to spend at least one day getting off the main roads and driving wherever the spirit moves me.  This is called "shunpiking".  Yes, you will inevitably get lost but you may discover amazing things along the way!

   "Things were looking for me, I felt - just calling to me." 

- Walker Evans

     A mind in Wu-Wei is extremely sensitive to circumstance...they "go with the flow" as it were. For those of us who are often in need of organizing and directing our lives, "going with the flow" can be hard to do but when you are able to reach this state, wonderful things are very likely to occur.

A Little Practice for the Week:

   It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon and you find that, amazingly, you have no "must do's" on your list!  Today is the perfect day to practice your Wu-Wei!  Pack your camera and maybe a little snack in your car and set out. If you normally turn left out of your driveway, turn right. Now the only thing you need to do is to turn whenever the spirit moves you. If the road seems interesting or you've never ventured down it than go for it!  Stop  from time to time and get out and look....REALLY look. Be very sensitive to circumstance and trust that you will end up exactly where you need to be. Follow the words of Chuang-tse.  He said that the mind in Wu-Wei, "flows like water, reflects like a mirror, and responds like an echo."

   Where did the flowing water take you? When you did pause, what did the landscape reflect back to you? And, finally, how did you respond?

The Characteristics of a Photographic Sage - part II "The Eye not the I"

"Photography is  drowning yourself, dissolving yourself, then sniff, sniff, sniff - being sensitive to coincidence.  First you loose yourself and then it happens." - Henri Cartier-Bresson

    The second characteristic of the Photographic Sage is their reliance on the "eye" and not the "I".  Simply put, the Sage attempts to rid themselves from their sense of Self.  If the photographer has truly listened to what the landscape is trying to teach them, then, in a sense, it's the landscape that makes the photograph, not the photographer.

   This may seem, at first, contradictory to what I have previously written about.  The Contemplative Photographer seeks their own soul in what they photograph, how they compose it and how they later edit the captured image.  They make it a very personal process.  I would reconcile the two by saying that contemplation brings you to a particular moment, a special place... it leads you gently by the hand and then tells you to "sit down and shut up!"  You must clear your mind, let go, and listen. You can't do that if your mind is cluttered with "I's"...I want to do this, I want my image to look like that, I want people to like my work, I want to make a "significant" image (whatever that may be!).  There is a great danger in this way of thinking.  When a sense of self predominates it's like closing one eye and squinting with the other - it narrows your world to a pin point and makes it a whole lot less likely that you will let yourself go "off script".  It also makes you reject subjects or places as "not you".

If you hunt only where rabbits live

then all you will catch is rabbits!

Yours Truly 

   I was completely committed to black and white photography from the start. Until a trip to Ireland in 2009, I hadn't produced one single color image.  On that trip I allowed myself to go "off script" quite by accident and there is no going back.  I was walking the Burren in County Clare on a very inhospitable day....chilly, windy, a slight mist in the air...I didn't think I'd be making any photographs that day.  I sat on a rock and thought I'd just "listen" to the land for awhile, maybe come back another day when the light was more favorable to the black and white landscape photographs I usually make.  I thought about the amazing caves deep and out of sight and the underground rivers that permeate the land.  I could almost feel this life blood of the Burren rushing beneath my feet. That thought made me  look down. There was a circular opening cut into the rock with tiny plants growing in the dark recesses, life seeking the light in a most unlikely place. I turned my lens downward, away from what everyone else was looking at, like the crashing waves and the rock strewn hills, to this tiny world beneath my feet...this little spot of color in a black and white land.  I was hooked.  Had I let my "I" interfere with my "eye" I would probably have just returned to the cottage complaining about not being able to make any "decent" photographs that day.

When people see some things as beautiful,

other things become ugly.

When people see some things as good,

other things become bad.

Tao te Ching - 2

Now Some Practical Stuff... 

   Put together a collection of 20-30 photographs you think represent your best work. Really look at them to see if there is a common thread that unites them.  Do you see a specific "style" to your work?  Good!  That means that you have found a voice that suits you! You have found your "I"!  Make a list of words that would describe that style.  Now look at some of the photography books on your shelf. Take any photographer, make a list of words to describe their style...their particular way of photographing the world around them. It works every time. It is easy to find the "I".

A Little Practice for the Week:

    Now is the time to go searching with the "Eye", not the "I".  Take your list of words that describe your style and go to a place that you find interesting. Before you start to make photographs, review your list. You can not use any of those words!  You must put the "I" away and use only your "Eye".  Try to see the landscape in a new way, with new eyes. If you only shoot in color, shoot in black and white...if you mostly use a horizontal format, hold your camera vertically....if you only make crisp, in-focus images, try some soft focus ones...if you like the "long shot", get up close and personal. You may discover that your style is more flexibly defined, less restricted by past accomplishments. You might also find that over time, your "I" may subtly shift...evolve. This is what the artistic process is all about!

"When I have won a victory, I do not repeat my tactics

 but respond to circumstances in an infinite variety of ways."

 Sun Tzu

The Characteristics of a Photographic Sage - part I, "The Empty Bowl"

 "To create one's own world in any of the arts takes courage." 

Georgia O'Keeffe

  It seems reasonable to now discuss specific characteristics possessed by a Photographic Sage. This term is the best one I could think of that would fuse the two things I feel passionate about, the contemplative photographic process and  Taoist philosophy.  I profess to being an expert in neither. Rather, I consider this blog as an opportunity to clarify and refine my own thinking on those topics  in a public forum where, I hope, others will offer me their insights and reflections.  As a retired teacher of 35+ years, I firmly believe that all it takes is one mind sending and one mind receiving for learning - and therefore growth - to occur and it is most definitely a two way street.

   The first characteristic of a Photographic Sage can best be illustrated by "The Empty Bowl". Let's begin with a story....
   

   A young photographer went to visit a Photographic Sage to discover the secrets of his amazing images. He thought that he had prepared himself well. He had purchased all the latest equipment and had attended countless workshops with the renown experts.  He had read every book he could find on technique and composition and his bookshelf sagged with the weight of instruction manuals on Photoshop. He had committed the style of every master of the photographic medium to heart. He could speak fluently in f-stops and apertures.  Finally, he felt himself truly worthy to come before the Master. "Tell me, oh wise one, what are your secrets? I am here to learn all I can from you."  The Photographic Sage just smiled and asked the young photographer if he'd like a bowl of tea. He began to pour slowly into a beautiful and ancient tea bowl. Even when the bowl was full he continued to pour out the tea. It ran over the table and onto the floor but the Sage continued to pour. "Wait!" cried the young photographer, "The bowl is full! It won't hold another drop!"  "Ah", said the Photographic Sage, "you begin to understand."

   This is, of course, a paraphrasing of a  famous old story but the lesson is still clear. You can't begin the journey if you are weighted down with every other photographer's ideas.  You must take on the characteristic of the empty bowl. There  must be space to add new insights and understandings.   A Photographic Sage knows nothing and, therefore, knows everything. The Tao is full of such paradoxes and at first it seems irreconcilable. How can you know "nothing" yet know "everything"?

   For the sake of our discussion, it means a Photographic Sage does not let his knowledge or past experience interfere with his response to a subject.  He approaches a subject each time with new eyes instead of old mind sets.  He tries to avoid photographic cliches - already seen and expected - and lets his inner voice direct his lens. 

   Learning is an important part of becoming the best photographer you can be but the trick is knowing when to let go of all that learning.  This requires a kind of supreme trust in yourself or as O'Keeffe says, courage.  As I wrote in my previous post, I went on my first photographic trip in 2005 as a pilgrim seeking to worship at the shrine of Paul Strand.  I was indeed fortunate to come to my senses. I let it go. I did not forget everything I knew, and loved, about Strand's work, I just tried to not let it interfere with my own response to the landscape. I wanted to experience the Hebrides through my own eyes and not through Strand's lens.

If you want to shrink something,

you must first allow it to expand.

If you want to get rid of something,

you must first allow it to flourish.

Tao te Ching - 36

   As a contemplative photographer, I try to generate questions rather than looking for answers. The "why" is far more important to me than the "how". But all this musing and reflection I confine to the pages of my journal.  When it's time to make photographs, I step away from it and try to simply be in the moment.

"It took me years to learn how to draw like Raphael

and a lifetime to learn to draw like a child." - Picasso

   I have found in my study of Taoism a certain child-like quality to the philosophy.  That's why I love Benjamin Hoff's books so much. They make that quality so clear.

A Photographic Sage knows when it is time to learn and when it is time to put the learning aside. They make photographs from the inside out and not from the outside in.

Now Some Practical Stuff...

   Do you have book shelves sagging with volumes on photographic technique and the work of  the masters of photography?  I certainly do.  They are valuable building blocks for your foundation but be careful not to merely follow their blueprints when you start constructing the house where your photographs will live!

   Consult them frequently but also add to your collection books about famous painters you admire and other cultures approach to the visual image.  I love the watercolors of Andrew Wyeth, Japanese prints of the 19th century, and Chinese landscape scrolls  All of them have contributed to my photographs in some way.


A Little Practice for the Week:

   If you are lucky enough to have a young child, around 5 - 7 years of age, or know someone who does, give them an inexpensive point and shoot digital camera and take them out one afternoon.  Tell them to just take pictures of anything they want while you do the same. Later, down load their images and compare them to yours. They are truly "empty bowls" and you may be surprised by what they chose to photograph...it can be a very humbling experience.

"Can you cleanse your inner vision

until you see nothing but the light?"

Tao te Ching - 10