The Lost Art of Getting Lost....

   David Chemin is a talented and prolific photographer and writer.  His website is filled with wonderful resources for those wishing to perfect their technical skills.  But it was his story on Maptia recently that really caught my attention.

To be lost, and 

surrender to that, is

to stop talking long

enough to listen

to a place.

      Ever since the invention of GPS, the art and craft of getting lost has been forgotten.  Everyone wants, no needs, to know where they are at every second of every day.  For me, all the best discoveries I've made during my travels have happened when I strayed off the path and gotten lost.  But getting truly and magnificently lost is an art that few people have acquired.

How to perfect the art of getting lost:

• Practice close to home.  Begin by trying a new way home from work or school or drive down a road you've never ventured down before.
• Share the experience with someone; make it an adventure.
• Stop frequently to take in the location; this isn't a race! 
• Find one special thing along the way that you wouldn't have seen had you not gotten "lost".
• Make finding your way home a challenge.  Get out your map and try your orienteering skills, you might discover new places along the road home.

     Once you have a few adventures under your belt you will feel more confident that being lost is really a wonderful thing and you will be more likely to allow yourself the experience from time to time.  One wonderful place to practice is on a small island.  You can only go so far and when you get to the waters edge, turn around!

   By all means, safety first!  Tell someone what you are doing and the general direction you are heading, when you expect to return.  take along your cell phone with a GPS app.  Check the weather and bring snacks and water.  Give yourself plenty of daylight time to accomplish your journey.  Be sensible in your choice of locations to get lost in.  A National Forest with no trails probably isn't a good choice.  Neither is a dangerous part of large city.  Common sense is always best.

It's enough to know where I am.

  In this moment.

   Here is a link to David's story on Maptia...

Lost: Venice

   And a final link.  Thank you to Kim Manley Ort for turning me on to this wonderful Ted Talk feature with Daniele Quercia.  The last line is appropriate to this discussion about letting yourself get lost from time to time..."If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine.  It's deadly."

TED TALK with Daniele Quercia

"Happy Maps"

Photography as a Way of Life...

To take a photograph is to align the head,

 the eye and the heart. It's a way of life.

  ~Henri Cartier-Bresson 

   Photography as an art, as a passion, as a hobby, yes, we can all relate to that but to see photography as a way of life is a whole different thing.

   It wasn't until I started my daily photojournal that I began to understand Cartier-Bresson's statement that, indeed, photography can be a way of life, inextricably linked to your daily routine.  As natural and necessary as brushing your teeth.  Not to have my camera with me would feel unnatural and unbalanced.

 The camera is an instrument that teaches

 people how to see without a camera.

~ Dorothea Lange

    Even if I am not actually carrying a camera, I am still looking through a virtual lens.  I think that after all these years I have, in some respects, become my camera.  It is simply how I live these days so I guess I could say that photography, either real or virtual, is my way of life.  Maybe that is the ultimate goal, to see and relate to the world as a kaleidoscope of beautiful images...all worthy of our attention...each with its own message and meaning for us.

Photographer: Susan Burnstine

Susan Burnstine portrays her dream-like visions entirely in-camera, rather than with post-processing manipulations. To achieve this, she created twenty-one hand-made film cameras and lenses that are frequently unpredictable and technically challenging. The cameras are primarily made out of plastic, vintage camera parts and random household objects and the single element lenses are molded out of plastic and rubber. Learning to overcome their extensive limitations has her to rely on instinct and intuition... the same tools that are key when trusting in the unseen.

   When I read this biography of photographer, Susan Burnstine I was fascinated!  Creating your own camera that will photograph the way you feel about a subject rather than relying on post-capture manipulation is an amazing concept.

   Her work has an ethereal, almost other-worldly feeling.  Done exclusively in black and white, they have the appearance of beautiful lithographs from another century or carefully rendered charcoal drawings.

   Now, I am not suggesting that your rush out and build your own camera...the mere thought of that boggles my mind...but it is the idea that our perception of a place or object does not have to be "tack sharp".  We are, after all, artists as well as photographers.  Our medium is light but it's expression is totally up to us.   You can view Susan's work here. 







 

Inspired by DIane Arbus...

Diane Arbus - 1949 by Allen Arbus

Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing cookies.

- Diane Arbus

    Diane Arbus had a unique point of view.  Whether you like her graphic and sometimes disturbing images or not, you might find yourself agreeing with this statement of hers. 

    Although I don't particularly care for the "taking" and the "stealing" parts, I do love the overall gist of it.  I am constantly delighted to be able to savor the tiny moments I experience through the photographs I make of them.  There is a wondrous and child-like element to it.

   Sometimes I find myself nearly giddy with delight when I happen upon a particular element in the landscape or anywhere I find myself.   I sometimes think to myself, "Doesn't everyone see this?  Don't you think it's wonderful?"  They answers are no, they usually don't and no, not particularly.  But I never let that dissuade me from seeking them out.

   When you walk through the world expecting to be surprised and delighted you invariably are.  If your eyes have been dulled with cynicism, you rarely will experience either.  The skeptics among us are often too jaded to appreciate the small but singularly delightful things we go on and on about.  That should not keep you from reveling in them.  Go ahead, enjoy those Oreos!

    

Creating Random Acts of Beauty...

The Poetry of Place - 3 October 2014

I love the work of Dewitt Jones.  I also love his message.  For every act of senseless violence in the world, use your camera to record random acts of beauty.  That has been my focus since I began my pond project in late June. 

   I think the appreciation of beauty is so important that I created a Pinterest board to pin Just Beautiful Things.  When the nightly news gets over whelming, I can go to it and just rest my soul.  Gazing at beauty is uplifting and one should try to bring it into one's live as much as possible...your daily dose of beauty along with your vitamins.  You can find beauty everywhere...it is a matter of appreciating the subtle nuances that define what is beautiful for you.

   The cell phone camera allows you to record those random moments of beauty quite spontaneously.  I did just that yesterday as I drove by the pond. Technology has allowed us to not miss a thing and in many ways, that is both a blessing and a curse as they say.  I prefer to see it as a blessing.

   Dewitt Jones is committed to finding beauty in the world around him.  In the near at hand and in the commonplace, Jones finds much beauty to record and savor.  With the foliage season here in the Northeast, when Nature fills our world with color and magic, I have had no problem creating random acts of beauty...it is an important part of my life, regardless of the season, for no other reason than it makes me feel good!

Celebrating What is Right with the World

Inspired by Alexandra de Steigeur

I photograph and write in an attempt to understand my place within this larger context, to delve deeply into a subject that has become familiar, and yet retains mystery.

   I was transported by Alexandra de Steigeur's powerful images of the stark reality of Star Island in the winter months.  Stripped of the hustle and bustle of the summer season, it reverts to its raw essence of sea, sky and rock.

   Attending her lecture while I was on Star was a gift and her passion for both her subject and her medium, monochrome photography, resonated with me on so many levels.  I had put aside my first love for the black and white image for the recent color work that has occupied me over the last year.  Now I felt I was ready to return to the monochrome image...it was an "Ah Ha" moment for me which I spoke about in an earlier post.

   It wasn't just a shift in medium that I gain from hearing Alex and looking at her images, it was a shift in focus as well.  I am always turning my eye to the small view; the intimate detail of the landscape.  Alex encourages us to consider the "big picture"...the more universal connection we share with the vastness of Nature which is so profoundly felt on this little island.  She calls this the "oceanic effect".  It is what she experienced as she sailed the Atlantic on a tall ship.

    And finally, I found inspiration in her adherence to a contemplative lifestyle that puts a greater premium on being with the landscape than on doing the photography...the need to be totally present and open to what the landscape has to say and not imposing one's will on either the place or the creatures that live there.  I hope to take this inspiration to the pond when next I visit.

Without the camera, I loved going outside. It didn't matter that the light be "just right", or the day dramatic. Only with the camera was there a certain expectation. I spent more time looking than appreciating, more time searching than seeing.

    Being a photographer can be a blessing and a curse, simultaneously.  If the head dominates the heart, which it often does as we struggle with technical considerations, when making takes precedent over meaning then the whole concept of the contemplative eye is lost for me.  I must remind myself every day that the personal encounter is my primary goal, not the finished photograph.

  

  

The Ultimate Metaphor...

   I am not one to admired "staged" photographs but in the case of this series by one of my favorite photographers, Nick Brandt, I'll make an exception.  I talked about his contemplative wildlife photography in a previous post and this series is another jaw dropping visual display.

    Brandt's images were made at Lake Natron in Northern Tanzania.  The lakes extreme alkalinity calcifies any animal who is unfortunate enough to fall into it.  He gathered these remains and posed them, as they would be in life and the photographs he made are haunting and thought provoking in the extreme.

   Some people, myself included, may find it difficult to view these images but contemplation isn't simply thinking about comfortable and pretty things.  It is the long, slow and loving look at the real and these represent a very real situation and place.  It is helpful, from time to time, to ponder things that make us feel uncomfortable.

    These images also allow us to meditate on the ultimate metaphor - Death.  And like that ever present reality, there is something beautiful to contemplate in the final act of letting go.  I recently attended the funeral of a very dear friend who had accompanied me to Ireland in 2009.  The sadness of a life cut short is never easy but the beauty of her life and how she accepted her death seemed to ease some of our grief.  Many can teach us how to live and a few special people can teach us how to face our own death...with grace and dignity.

    This series also recalls the ground breaking exhibit by Gunther von Hagens, Body Worlds.  I've never seen that exhibit but it is the striking revelation of the intricacies of the human body. Somehow, the animals in Brandt's photographs, seen in their natural environment, seem to me more poignant and touching...less about science and more about contemplation.

   I'll leave it up to you to visit the following link and form your own conclusions.  I would be interested in your thoughts....

Calcified - Across the Ravaged Land

 

An Enduring Vision - the exhibition

Photograph by Anne Brigman

   An Enduring Vision is an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts featuring works from the Lane Collection of photographs.  I spoke briefly about it last autumn in a post I did about finding inspiration at the MFA.  (You can re-read that here.)

   I'm mentioning this again because the exhibition closes on March 30th and, for those who live within driving distance of the MFA in Boston, you might like to take it in before it closes.

   There will be a curator talk on February 13, 2014 that would be a wonderful opportunity to hear about one couples passion for photography.  You can see a video clip on the talk and exhibition here.

   As Carl Jung tells us, the soul speaks to us through images and just walking through an exhibit like this will find us drawn to specific pieces...ones that resonate particularly for us.   We can journal our thoughts about the work that draws our attention and reflect on the "why's".  It is like doing a Photo Lectio exercise.  It is an easy and illuminating activity for the contemplative photographer.  If you can't make this exhibition, seek out another this year closer to home.  Beholding beauty is always inspiring.


   

Guest Post: Susan Fox - Intuitive Photographer

    We begin the new year with a guest post from Susan Fox. Although she categorizes her work as "intuitive", it is certainly very contemplative as well. I like bringing new faces to this blog and Susan (and her lovely work) is a great way to start off 2014.


How did you come to photography? 

   Photography surfaced as my artistic expression during Higher National Diploma Fine Art education about 14 years ago.  Having explored other more traditional art-forms, such as painting and printmaking, I realized something was missing, never really feeling that deeper connection like I did with photography and the excitement of the printed form.

 Initially I was spurred forward by my tutor who was impressed by my use of natural light in an image taken with a throw away camera.  He said it was the best student picture of that year's Florence trip. I took photography as my specialism despite finding the technical side daunting.  I always had to ask twice for instructions.  To this day I do not relish the technical side!  

   At that time I became fascinated with the idea of using the camera as a tool for therapy. I had recently lost all of my hair due to alopecia, so cottoning onto this idea I arranged for a personal photo-therapy session where I dressed in African headdress, which for me was symbolic of beauty, strength and femininity. To this day I look for symbolism in my imagery, very often going back to work on an image to draw out and express my feelings as a form of therapy.

   One that comes to mind is this abstract image which looked like a red dress to me.  Needing to vent my emotions, feeling powerless over a personal situation in my life, I decided to work into the image making it stronger, sharper, more defined, thereby releasing some negativity.  This processing of feelings through imagery can be very empowering.

Share some of your process with my readers...

   Initially Minor White's photography made a big impact on me, his use of light and how he would arrange for group field trips to capture the light and magic of the landscape fascinated me, I found his images mind blowing.  The best way of describing my connection to outdoor photography is that of a walking meditation, my mind is switched off or lets say uncluttered.  This is not a forced state of mind it just happens when the camera is in my hand. I feel my senses are sharp I am attuned to my intuition or deeper knowing, listening inwardly. 

  

   I do not ascribe to any course of camera setting adjustments, it is always on auto leaving my mind free.  I just remain in a state of Being, my old camera becomes an appendage in that it feels like it's a part of me held snugly in one hand between my four fingers and thumb. Apart from walking, veering from side to side or bobbing up and down the only action I perform is either zooming in or out, I can manipulate the zoom with the same hand whilst my eye hovers between the landscape and the viewfinder.

    The light is always guiding me.  It feels like there is an inner computing and configuring going on.  I will take scores of shots in the process, it is not static or considered but an active and fluid experience. The feeling continues when I get home with my haul, I can't wait to up-load them to my computer, it's akin to opening an anticipated box of chocolates, the excitement and delight at pondering each image adds even more to the experience. To further use the analogy of chocolates, not all will equally hit the sensory spot but one or two will usually stand out as significant and having deeper meaning.

What are some of the benefits of seeing the world through you camera's lens? How has it impacted your sensibilities and perceptions?

    The love of lens has impacted my life in a most wonderful way, particularly when I started my blog Finding my Bliss. For a period of about 2 years I was in a constant state of 'bliss', I called it my 'wonderbubble', and most especially during an unusual winter of snow, I was in wonderland; landscape, reflections, macro photography...this also coincided with a very difficult personal patch in my life that I had to deal with. So, through the camera I was able to live in moments of pure awareness. It nourished me through these sad and stressful times. As I posted on my blog I wanted to pass on this incredible feeling, to inspire others in similar situations.

If I never left my house again there would be an infinite source of subject matter for photography around, either through the ever changing external window scene or inside my home.  Again, I never plan, it just happens.  My camera is always on hand, my family are used to me instantly dropping whatever I am doing to catch a sparkle or shadow!

    It is always associated with the light change.  I think over the years of image taking I have become deeply sensitized to both subtle and strong light changes.  It could be a soft light outside that gives gentle shades evoking a feeling of harmony and connection to the Divine or a strong shadow inducing light that catches my attention, imbuing a sense of mystery.

  I do admit to playing in this light a little, it is one of my favorite pastimes seeing what I can come up with.  I have favorite glass items I photograph over and over as the light hits them differently and then perhaps even progressing to a little Photoshop work.  Sometimes I hear my old tutor telling me to "push the boundaries, go deeper" so I do, it satisfies my creativity. 

But all in all I view my connection to the camera as my spiritual outlet, fulfilling a deep need within.  This outlet and expression is a form of worship if you like, focusing in on the minutest of life's details, manifesting the beauty and design of Source, it is my way of blessing counting.  I am grateful for the abundance!

I call my blog 'Finding my Bliss' because for me intuitive photography is the most fulfilling and blissful pursuit.

Here is a biographical sketch of Susan:

 My love David and I plus our two beautiful fluff-ball dogs Dougal & Jasper live together in a 17th century cottage on the edge of a famous historical estate ~ Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, UK.  We restored the cottage from the remaining three walls of a ruin fourteen years ago, it is believed to be the original cobbler's cottage that served the Hall, which was built by Bess of Hardwick, cousin to Queen Elizabeth I of England. 

    The Hall is famous for its windows among other things, as when it was constructed windows were a luxury and the Hall had many, hence the saying "Hardwick Hall more glass than wall".  I love to photograph the Hall and windows, at a certain time of day when the sun is shining they appear to be on fire! 

    When I am not taking photographs or walking with our boys in the parkland surrounding us I spend time with my other passion, yoga which has become a very important part of my life, you could say 'yoga saves', for I have found through practicing yoga and meditation along with intuitive photography I have been able to ride some serious storms in my life!  I have three grown up children and three grandchildren, all precious to me for which I am grateful!

The Receptive Mind...

   I suppose if I had to point to only one influence in my camera work (and I assure you I have many) it would have to be Minor White.  Even when I was studying photography years ago, long before I even knew there was such a thing as contemplative photography, I new Minor White had a unique approach to the medium I loved.

...a very receptive state of mind...not unlike a sheet of film itself...seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a second's exposure conceives life in it.    -Minor White

   I loved the idea of the receptive mind and the notion implied in the quote that the landscape is a creative force engendering life in the mind of the photographer.  Pretty powerful stuff.

   I've floated the idea in this blog before that the landscape can be a co-creator in the image.  It is through this subtle dialogue, not the ego-filled monologue of traditional photography,  that the photographer can come into partnership with the landscape and reveal the hidden truth that lies within...within the landscape and the photographer alike.

   Nurturing the receptive mind is paramount for the contemplative photographer.  There is a paradox however and it is revealed in another Minor White quote...

Let the subject generate it's own

photograph.  Become a camera.

     Here White seems to be advocating complete passivity in the photographer; to become a thoughtless machine.  I doubt this is truly possible or even desirable but a highly receptive mind most certainly is.  Reaching a state where one can welcome the landscape into the process, listening for its whispers, before one even raises the camera to the eye, is allowing the mind to attain a highly receptive state of being.  I don't want to be a thoughtless machine, sorry Mr. White, but I do want to nurture a receptive mind.  For me there is a give and take, a gentle dance, that occurs when I move about the landscape in this way and I feel we both benefit from it.

    

  

The Constructed Landscape - the photography of Toshio Shibata

   I recently viewed a wonderful exhibit of the noted Japanese photographer, Toshio Shibata.  I have never seen is work in person and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts has a wonderful show entitled, Constructed Landscapes, on view until February, 2014.  If you are in the area you should really try to see it.  It will challenge you to see photography in a new way and it might even get you thinking about the way you approach the relationship of the man-made world to the natural world.

Shibata's photographs reveal

that even the humblest places

can inspire, delight and

merit contemplation.

-from the introduction

to the exhibit

   Shibata combines Japanese aesthetics with contemporary subject matter, what he calls infrastructure, and the immense scale of the work is breath taking.  The smallest piece is 25" X 30" and the largest is 49" X 60".  The huge size of his prints really made me think about the role of scale in photography.  The trend of creating large scale images is pretty much the norm amongst the elite photographers of today.  There is certainly much you can say about the impact such large images make on the viewer.  You find yourself stepping back to take it all in.  When you are across the room from a photograph of this size it ceases to be "photographic", it seemed to take on the illusion of an abstract painting.

   There is an elegance and simplicity to Shibata's view of the constructed landscape and by making his photographs so large it adds to their monumentality.  By failing to name them, you are often unable to comprehend what they are so the work borders on the abstract.  Here, there is almost a reverence for the work of Man which dominates the pictures space.  The fact that they must have been printed on a monumental printer at a monumental cost simply adds to the overall impression I got of being somewhat small and overwhelmed! 

    I also wondered, as I left the gallery, if the age of the small, hand held print is gone or is there still a place for the intimate, close-up encounter with the photograph?  I hope so; I would hate to see it go the way of the book which is being slowly replaced by the e-book.  Bigger isn't always better but in Toshio Shibata's case it is certainly awe inspiring!


  

An Interview with Steve Dunn...

   I was very fortunate to spend my week on Monhegan with photographer Steve Dunn.  Steve has been coming to Monhegan for 20 years and has just published a book of his images of the island entitled Monhegan: Timeless Impressions of a Special Island. (You can follow this link to preview and order the book.)  Steve has graciously agreed to an interview for this blog that will give us some insight into his process.  He calls his style, photographic impressionism.  I call it evocative and captivating.  I get lost in his images.  The following are Steve's responses to my questions on the "why" and "how" of his work.

PT:   In your book you call your images "artistic meditations".  Could you expand on that idea?

View from Fish Beach

SD:  The images I have created and included in this book are not traditional tack sharp images of my subjects but my artistic interpretation of those subjects.  They are impressionistic images in which the subjects are recognizable but are not literal renditions of how the subject looks in real life.  The images are intended to evoke feelings.  My hope is that the viewer will take time to study each image and discover what feelings the images evoke in them.  For me, one of the feelings these images evoke is a feeling of timelessness which is one of the feelings I have when I am on Monhegan.  This is what I mean by artistic meditation.  Artistic meditation is when you spend time viewing and thinking about an image so that you go beyond the initial visual impact of the image and find its deeper meaning.

PT:  You acknowledge Freeman Patterson and Andre' Gallant for inspiring you and teaching you the "art of seeing".  What for you is the most critical element of this act?

SD:  For me, the most critical element in the "art of seeing" is to be in the present moment.  If you are not in the present moment it is impossible to see what is around you.  If your thoughts are in the past or the future you cannot recognize the beauty that surrounds you, you are just going through the motions.  You must be in touch with all of your senses in that very moment in order to make a successful photograph, one that has true meaning.

PT:  You have been returning to Monhegan for 20 years to photograph this unique landscape.  What is it about this place that keeps you coming back year after year?

Ropes

SD:   I believe each of us has that special place where we feel truly at home and at peace.  For me, Monhegan is that place.  I feel like Monhegan is part of me and I am part of it.  It is where my soul is most content.  I love everything about Monhegan, from its slow pace of life, its incredible natural beauty, to its caring, strong, self sufficient people.  Monhegan is a place where there are no pretenses, it is what it is.  It is a place where people know and look out for each other, where they work hard to make a living, but know true freedom and great joy.  It is a place where thy take time to appreciate each sunrise and sunset.  It is also a place where change comes slower and not at the mind numbing pace it occurs on the mainland.  For me, Monhegan is a place that makes it easy to be in the present moment because I do not want to be anywhere else.  For these and many more I will return to Monhegan each year and I will continue to create images of this special place for the rest of my life.

PT:  I've often used the phrase - "I am my photographs."  You mention the Ernst Hass quote, "If beauty were not in us, how would we ever recognize it?"  How is the person you are reflected in your photographs?


SD:  I believe that when we take photographs the images we create and how we create them are greatly influenced by our subconscious.  My images reflect my life long love of Maine and in particular the coast of Maine.  They also reflect my inner quest to express love, peace, beauty and happiness.  I  spent 34 years working in various law enforcement positions where I encountered many of the negative aspects of the human experience.  Although I enjoyed this work, it was emotionally draining.  Photography offered me an opportunity to recharge myself emotionally and express my true self.  The images I create express the contemplative and ever hopeful person that I believe I am.

Three Dories

   In the world of photography today there seems to be a trend to concentrate on showing the negative aspects of life, the cruelty, hatred and suffering that are all too prevalent.  While there is certainly a place for this type of photography, there is also a need to show the positive aspects of life.  There is nothing wrong with creating beautiful images.  As humans, we need to see the beauty in life for it is what inspires us.  If we concentrate on the negative we will soon become disillusioned about life.  For me, beauty symbolizes peace, hope and love which are all things the world certainly needs more of.  So, I will continue to create images that show the beauty that I see in the world around me with the hope that in some small way they will inspire others to see more of the beauty of life that surrounds them.

PT:  Finally, I wonder if you would share some of the technical aspects of your unique photographic style with my blog readers?

SD:  For many years as I was learning photography, I took photographs in the more traditional manner; they were tack sharp and showed every detail of the subject.  I was happy with these photographs for awhile but as I became a better photographer I realized that the images I was taking were not fully expressing the feelings that I wanted to express about my subjects so I started reading about some alternative photographic techniques.  I then learned about the photographic workshops offered by Freeman Patterson and Andre' Gallant.  I decided to take their workshop which is focused on visual design and in which they teach many of the alternative photographic techniques I now use.

   When you first learn these techniques you tend to want to use them on everything but you quickly realize that the technique does not work with every subject.  These techniques should be used when they help to better express the feeling you want the viewer to get from the image.  Never use a photographic technique that overpowers the image itself.  I believe the photographic techniques I used to create the images in my book helped to express the sense of timelessness and other feelings that Monhegan evokes in me.

What follows is a brief description of each of the photographic techniques used in the book:

1. Photomontages (Slide Sandwiches) - With this technique you combine two or three frames together to create an artistic effect.  There are many variations on this technique.  You can combine two totally different images (one as the subject and the other as a complimenting detail) in order to create a surreal scene.  You could also combine two images of the same scene with one frame in focus and one frame out of focus in order to make an impressionistic effect.

2. Multiple Exposures - This is a technique where you combine two or more images (I usually use 9 or 10) of the same or different subjects whether in the camera or in the computer.  It can be done with film or digitally.

3. Rear Projection - Project images, either slides or digital images, on a rear projection screen and photograph them through textured glass.

4.  Selective Focus - This technique is created by keeping the subject in sharp focus and other parts of the image out of focus and blurred.

5. Polaroid Manipulation Process - Using Polaroid SX70 film, I manipulated the emulsion with a stylist after exposing the film which gave the finished print a painterly quality.  Unfortunately, Polaroid SX70 film is no longer available so I cannot use this process now.

   Steve has certainly given all of us a lot to think about and digest.  The "takeaways" from all this are quite simple though...photograph what you love and be willing to keep at it....use photographic techniques with care so that they are used to express your heartfelt intention and not to merely impress others...and don't be afraid to look for the beauty in the world around you.  I think a reminder of my Four Be's of Contemplative Photography would be a good way to conclude this post since I feel they sum up Steve's process as a photographer:

Be Still, Be Present, Be Patient and Be Persistent

The Long and Short of It...

   What I love, what I've always loved about landscape photography is the wide range of options available to the photographer...the long shot, the short shot and everything in between.  Once I've sat with my landscape for a time, absorbing the sense of place, after I've written in my journal and sketched and I feel comfortable, it's time to begin recording impressions with my camera.  As you have probably noticed, or could most likely guess, I'm not much of an equipment "junkie".  I have only one lens, a Nikon 18-200 zoom - it's enough for me.  If the landscape invites me in, I'll walk in, not change my lens.  I want to feel part of the landscape and not a remote viewer...a landscape "voyeur".

   I am a great admirer of the wild life photography of Nick Brandt who spends hours, days, even weeks getting to know his subject, letting his subject feel comfortable with him so that he can make his striking "portraits".  No telephoto lens for him; Brandt surely practices the 4 Be's - "Be Still, Be Present, Be Patient and Be Persistent".

   This portrait of a lioness has all the dignity and compassion of the great masters of photographic portraiture who were able to reveal the soul of their subjects with carefully rendered compositions and sensitively considered lighting.  His new book, "On this Earth, A Shadow Falls" is an absolute masterpiece. When you visit the link to the book, be sure to click on the "book tease" to preview some pages.  At $120. it may be a bit pricey for some but I'm saving up for it.  I think it is well worth the cost for me to be able to sit for hours with this man's camera work.  I would never have imagined that African wildlife photography could be "contemplative" in nature but Brandt's work certainly qualifies for that distinction.

On the Edge of Our World - North Uist, Scotland

   My only comparable experience, and it pales in comparison to Brandt's work, would be my "encounter" with highland cattle on North Uist, Scotland in 2005.  I came upon a herd of them but as I approached they ran away.  No matter, I plopped myself down on a rock and ate my lunch.  I wrote in my journal, did a sketch of the landscape and was well into my "visual listening" mode, maybe an hour and a half, when I heard a soft "snuffling" sound.  The little herd was returning, no longer feeling threatened by my presence it seems.  Instead of grabbing my camera, I just sat with them for awhile. I finally made the image on the right and awhile later, one cow felt comfortable enough to take a nap right in front of me!

   I probably spent more than two hours on that hillside in North Uist communing with the "Coos" ( a Hebridean term for "cows").  I felt it was time well spent even though I only made two photographs during that time.  I came to know these gentle animals in a way I never would have if I'd relied on a telephoto lens. In fact, the most rewarding part of the experience wasn't the photographs but earning the trust of these creatures...we both felt at ease in each others presence and that was a wonderful gift.

   Those huge lenses favored by most landscape photographers and especially wildlife photographers always make me think of hunters stalking their "prey" from a safe distance, determined to get the shot no matter what.   I think I'll stick with my simple lens and my 4 "Be's"...and that's the long and short of it!

"Adopt the pace of Nature; her secret is Patience."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Minor White: Photographer and Contemplative....

"Exposure occupies my mind while intuition frames the images."

Minor White 

    Minor White is, indisputably, one of the 20th century's photographic masters. I would also call him a "Photographic Sage"(I hope he wouldn't mind!).  He never, to my knowledge, used the phrase "contemplative photographer" to describe himself but I would. White's work exemplifies every characteristic I believe contemplative photographers must have to practice their art. He was committed during his 40 years as a photographer to the transcendental aspect of the visual experience surpassed in this approach, I believe, only by Alfred Steiglitz. Although he was a highly skilled practitioner of the photographic medium, his prints were technical perfection, his concern was always for the spirit behind the image.

"I'm always and forever looking for the image that has spirit!  

I don't give a damn how it got made."

   White spent his life studying the photographic medium.  He studied with the best and he was a mentor for a generation of photographers that came after him. His most memorable achievement, in my humble opinion, was an idea he worked on his entire life. White expanded on a theory put forth first by Steiglitz in the 1920's; the concept of "Equivalence".  It is the metaphoric backbone of contemplative photography.

   For White, the very essence of photography's claim to being an art lay it this metaphoric capability.  Minor White practiced photography like some practice religion and he imbued it with the same spirituality,  This is why I consider White a true contemplative photographer and not merely a symbolist.

    This is more clearly shown in his idea that photographs act as a catalyst, merely a step in the process, and not an end in themselves.  A photograph is a function and not a "thing". This is a startling and far-reaching idea.

   For the contemplative photographer, the photograph's function is for shedding light on an inner truth.  One can share in that truth to the degree one is able to enter into this metaphoric relationship.  What is so exciting to me is that each person will see their own truth and this is the essence of the art.

"At first glance, a photograph can inform us.  At second glance it can reach us."

Minor White.

     

 

The Tao of Photography by Phillippe Gross

    I short while back I came upon the book by Phillippe Gross, The Tao of Photography.  Reading it was like finding a mind that held hands with my own thoughts and expressed it all so beautifully.  I then found a wonderful video he has produced that offers all his concepts accompanied by striking images.   It is an excellent summary of the past 10 weeks of posts on this site as well. Although, at times, I approached the concepts a bit differently and added one or two of my own, the synchronicity is clearly there. I think you will enjoy the video very much.

THE TAO OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Remember to start posting your images and reflections!