Photography
For years I have been taking pictures of small details, not close up photography or macro, but noticing the little moments of life, form, texture and color. I never shared my pictures with others and often wondered why I was so fixated on taking photos that I didn’t believe would interest anyone else.
Then, one day, I was in a book store and I came across a book, The Practice of Contemplative Photography: Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes by Michael Wood and Andy Karr. I couldn’t believe it. Apparently there was a whole school of photography dedicated to cultivating this way of taking photographs. The name of the school is Miksang (Tibetan for “Good Eye”) and they offer workshops around the world
What, you may ask, does this have to do with ManoCulture (or Mono Culture)? I think it has everything to do with how one moves through the world. Every day we come in contact with the world, but don’t really notice the beauty, magic and extraordinary nature of things and people. We look but we don’t see.
As part of my commitment to cultivating a world that is specific, genuine and authentic (as opposed to generic and artificial), I like taking photographs that both require me to slow down and notice and also ask the viewer to pause and reflect.
"Any perception can connect us to reality properly and fully. What we see doesn’t have to be pretty, particularly; we can appreciate anything that exists. There is some principle of magic in everything, some living quality. Something living, something real is taking place in everything”
Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche The Sacred Path of The Warrior.