Neil October 1st, 2008
Those who know don’t talk.
Those who talk don’t know.
Block the passage
Bolt the gate
Blunt the sharp
Untie the knot
Blend with the light
Become one with the dust–
This is called original unity
It can’t be embraced
It can’t be escaped,
It can’t be helped
It can’t be harmed,
It can’t be exalted
It can’t be despised,
Therefore it is revered under Heaven.
TAO TE CHING by Lao-Tzu Translated by Stephen Addiss, Stanley Lombardo
I heard this one quoted in Forbidden Kingdom as I watched it today – I love Kung Fu movies!
Neil August 22nd, 2008
Great TAO overflows
To the Left 
To the right
It may be called immense.
By not making itself great,
It can do great things.
Neil August 21st, 2008
The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.
- Albert Schweitzer
Twitter / iheartquotes
Neil July 29th, 2008
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”
Bruce Lee
Neil April 24th, 2008
TAO – 33
Knowing others is intelligent.
Knowing yourself is enlightened.
Conquering others takes force.
Conquering yourself is true strength.
Knowing what is enough is wealth.
Forging ahead shows inner resolve.
Neil January 14th, 2008
Craig M. Tanner has a nice PDF download of an article titled “The Myth of Talent” available at The Radiant Vista
We need this presence because the truth about talent is this – talent is a set of skills you develop over time through desire.
Craig has gone over a few bumps in his photographic education:
And there waiting for me in Atlanta, mailed from the Kodachrome processing plant, was
a national monument sized stack of little cardboard, slide filled boxes with all of the
photography from my trip…… And when you look up the word disappointment in the
dictionary there ought to be at least one picture of me going through each box, slide by
slide, desperately looking for, but never seeing – not even once – anything on film that
even remotely approached the awe inspiring beauty of my experience. At the time it was
the most devastating let down of my life. I had never felt so foolish. The written journal I
kept was a better record of what I saw than my photography.
The truth about the images from my trip in 1988 is that not one image from that body of
work has ever been included in any of my portfolios.
Read his full article to see how he bounced back creatively and professionally. It’s worth it to get to page six and take action on his “Seven Ways to Create Your Own Space for Artistic Growth”
1) Breathe – Fear needs a timeline to exist. When we are afraid we are worried about our
past actions or possible future outcomes. Worrying about time we do not control robs us
of the power we have in the present to transform ourselves. When the fear of being a
beginner (or any other fear creeps into our minds) we can respond by simply paying
attention to our breathing. Just a few seconds of observing our breathing can dissolve our
fears by bringing us back to now and to the presence we need to be the artist we desire to
become.
Craig’s recommended reading is very good:
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
The Work by Byron Katie
Art and Fear by Ted Orland and David Bayles
The Artist Way by Julia Cameron *I’m working on it now and highly recommend it!*
Free Play by Stephen Nachmanovitch
If you’re looking for beginner photographic critiques illustrated live in video, check out the Radiant Vista’s Daily Critique section
If you’re a photoshop beginner and want to play around guided by screen video there’s a lot of downloads to be had…
Neil October 1st, 2007
“Those who excel are those who maximize each moment’s creative potential — for these masters of living, presence to the day-to-day learning process is akin to that purity of focus others dream of achieving in rare climactic moments when everything is on the line.”
What a better description could a wedding photojournalist look for to describe his job. I am sent to an important day in the life of a person to show each moment’s creative potential and connection to the love, support and encouragement they have recieved their whole life. The moment’s are not the limit, as I have thought before — but as I see more clearly — the limit is within my ability to connect each moment to the Tao. Joshua Waitzkin writes of his search for a way into THE ZONE of awareness and conectedness as overcoming his own personal strength. In his Chess competitions or his early martial art’s competitions he relied upon his deep well of personal energy and ability to intensely focus. Drawing solely upon these skills, he could win – but only once. He would be so wiped out from the complete exertion that he couldn’t recover or continue.
My personal parallel in the visual arts is the germ of an idea that I often go into a shoot with. The idea gives me a creative burst to accomplish something, guide something or make something. But I risk being ruined by my creativity if my plans are disrupted, or I am not able to meet my expectations (imagination). I am also limited by my imagination, instead of opening to possibility.
“…perhaps even more critical in solitary pursuits such as writing, painting, scholarly thinking, or learning. In the absense of continual external reinforcement, we must be our own monitor, and quality of presence is often the best gauge. We cannot expect to touch excellence if “going through the motions” is the norm of our lives. On the other hand, if deep, fluid presence becomes second nature, the life, art and learning take on a richness that will continually surprise and delight. Those who excel are those who maximize each moment’s creative potential–for these masters of living, presence to the day-to-day learning process is akin to that purity of focus others dream of achieving…”
Don’t just be a dreamer
Read on this week as we follow Josh’s path to create a reliable path to THE ZONE
Neil September 11th, 2007
“Truth be told, this is what my entire approach to learning is based on–breaking down the artificial bariers between our diverse life experiences so all moments become enriched by a sense of interconnectedness.”
The search for interconnectedness in my pursuit equals the filling of an image with ‘art’ and not just ‘record’.
“For one thing, now that your conscious mind is free to take little breaks, you’ll be delighted by the surges of creativity that will emerge out of your unconscious. You’ll become more attuned to your intuition and will slowly become more and more true to yourself stylistically.” (p184)
So many discussions I’ve read on how to become a successful artist center around the need for self-styling, a truism to a personal core of expression. But the discussions end there, superficially to my questioning mind, and so Josh Waitzkin rings true to his universal claim. But I’m still left questioning who I am as, the only universal element to my work is that of exploration of the world.
What is the personal trait that you identify as core in your work?
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