...in the art of photography I often ask myself why I "do" photography, but perhaps the question is what does photography do for me. One of the local professional photographers here, Justine (www.justineritchie.com), is doing a series on Mindful Photography, and that made me think a bit more about my approach and how it relates to my earlier experiences.
I'll break this into three sections: A mind full of photography. With camera in hand, I quickly drift out of the realities of life and forget most of what is going on in my life. My logical (left) brain dominates as I work out all the technicalities, which camera is best, which lens, shutter speed, aperture, holding the camera steady, maybe a tripod, cable release, changing angles, depth of field, focus... There is so much to concentrate on I get lost in the technicalities and getting the best out of my subject. Nothing else matters. I had never really thought of photography as being able to take me into this zone. In earlier experiences when I was training hard at sport, my coaches would discuss Zen techniques of concentrating the mind, particularly in repetitive actions. I remember coming off a rifle range (my sport was rifle shooting) and someone commenting that I had done particularly well. Until he commented I was totally unaware of how well I had done. I had been "in the zone". Lying shooting completely unaware of the 300 other competitors or lying on my back amongst hundreds of tourists trying to get a different angle on one of Scotland's tourist hot spots, has some similarities. Mindless photography. Throwing away the rules and forgetting about that list above, the camera is the first one out of the bag and whichever settings were last used (left brain kicks in and says "HELP"). I breathe in images almost faster than I can breathe. If my brain is processing anything it would be the sound of the waves, or the green-ness of spring or the smell of damp earth. The images are more spontaneous, less ordered or controlled. (Left brain "Aye, right"). OK maybe I haven't quite got there yet, but I am beginning to trust this instinctive and slightly hap-hazard approach. The images? Well they are different although, maybe, not to everyone's taste - but that is art. I like them. The third section is much more complex. With a brain stuffed full of life and living, the camera often does't break through those barriers. Time, weather, responsibilities, health, relationships, etc etc are just as important (to me). The camera often become just a tool to record life's events. Equally I can "zone out" looking through old photos and relive some of those experiences.
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Neil GerrardThrough these blogs I hope to inspire you into creating better images. I'll illustrate with my own photography and link with other photographers and artists. Archives
August 2022
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