Contemplative: The Art of Seeing

“The term Contemplative Photography was likely coined by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who used photography as a mindfulness tool. His approach focused on moving away from trying to capture the perfect shot and encouraged photographers to be present with what is in front of them, free from distractions. Imagine the experience of photographing a stop sign that is not about the word STOP but a focus of attention on the textures of the sign and light reflecting off the object. I find it helpful to define this practice as "mindfulness photography"—using the camera as a way to stay anchored in perception of the present moment.”

“But beyond that, photographs are remarkably adept at telling stories. These stories are usually grounded in some version of truth, though the fun part of working with images is exploring what that truth actually is. Where things get really interesting is how unbelievably convincing they are in making us believe that truth is more than just light bouncing off objects.”

 Recently, a student and I set out to take sunset photos over Point Reyes on Mt Tamalpais’ Ridgecrest Blvd. As the sun set I turned to the right and saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.

The goal is always to slow down, stop, take a couple of seconds, let the image find you and then use the your craft skills to make the image real. The more traditional approach is that the act of creating the photograph is an afterthought, this approach is that mindfulness is the portal to creating great photographs.

This is why I love being a photographer, catching these special moments and preserving them for the future.

Once the student has taken the Fundamentals class they will be eligible to take the contemplative class.