you will what you imagine
Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.
George Bernard Shaw
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Archive for the 'Philosophy' Category
Mind like water: Practice the art of Meditation
Mind like water is a visual metaphor for a state of being. A nugget I hope you gain from watching this video is quoted “choice is a function of awareness, awareness comes as a function of meditation.”
So if no-one has ever taught you the goal of meditation let me help you “observe things from a place of non-reaction, which does not mean detachment, but means not attached to an outcome.” And this is my personal favorite photographic mode, allowing my own choices to be fully aware and scooping creative power from the natural surroundings….I hope you begin a practice of meditation into your life to help you create with a watchful eye and this article blesses you with the inertia to start that practice.
YouTube - Michael Beckwith - The power of Meditation
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- Creativity , Inspiration , Mind Like Water , Philosophy , The Zone , Video , Workshop , how to , learning
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Header #1: Metaphysical explanation
Please join me in a meditation on ancient Hebrew scripture:
Genesis 1
The Beginning
- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
- And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
- God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
- God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Well, where to start with all that.
First do you have any potential biases? Have you ever considered the truth contained in Hebrew scriptures? If you can find truth in the oldest spiritual text on the planet - then you might have a chance with a lens too. Clear your mind of any haze of skepticism and find the essence of these scriptures and how they may effect you.
Vs. 1 is an intro - kinda set’s the stage with the most important summary of all. Connect with God and you’ll connect with creativity itself, more on that later.
Vs. 2 - can you actually conceptualize nothingness? Try it - oops - no you can’t do that, because you exist - I kinda see this verse along those lines. A little gotcha joke, that teaches a lesson. Quantum physics is now just learning and informing us that the mind creates the universe……another very tricky catch22, that we all find the answer to when we die.
Vs. 3 - Ok so we’ve tackled some pretty major philosophical hurdles, what’s next? Well we know a few things about light now in the Twenty First century. We admit to knowing less about God so let’s put it together. E=mc2 is the best explanation that we have so far. It’s no such thing as why - but a very nice how. Energy, can become matter if it’s moving fast/slow enough. Pretty cool so Genesis has it right, God created ‘light’ and there was matter all nice and tidy in His one substance. Those ancient people knew a bit of something about reality didn’t they! they just communicate it differently than we do.
Now let’s draw some parallels that are important for our craft. God’s first creation he used for our primary interface with the world. I don’t mean to Kinda tricky how he did that eh? We are created to interact with the light. Ponder the multidimensional wonder of that thought for a while since you’ve now realized that light gives us information, as well as creates the substance we inhabit.
But wait, I have to burst that wonderful thought bubble to break in that we don’t actually interact with the light anymore - we interact with the darkness. Yep, you’re responding to the darkness around you. The darkness tells you where your keyboard is; the darkness tells you where the subject in your viewfinder is; the darkness defines color and shape in your photographic prints. The study of visual perception has been around since the Greeks were able to guess that light came into our eyes, and the first photography book that really opened up my mind to understand the intricacy of how we see was Perception and Imaging by Richard Zakias. It is always my first recommendation for those seeking to study photography and understand building a photograph with visual elements.
So here you begin to understand the levels upon which I developed the concept and the motivation for this site - to Make Light Real
As another perspective on light as a key to metaphsyics, you can watch this clip by Bob Proctor
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Maximize each moment’s creative potential - find THE ZONE
“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.
Don’t just be a dreamer
Read on this week as we follow Josh’s path to create a reliable path to THE ZONE
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- Inspiration , Mind Like Water , On Art , Philosophy , Quotes , The Zone , learning
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The art of learning = the art of performance
So the depth of learning
I never made this connection, but Josh Waitzkin just proposed their universality as a major breakthrough in his own training. How can learning be linked to performance? I don’t think that he means their acts are linked, I think he’s referring to their depth. At this point in his life story, he’s somewhere between his adolescent and adult years and he’s going to a sports psychology training camp to assess why he breaks down in certain points of chess tournaments. The revelation was that he thinks too long, and gets muddled by the stress of it. I can definitely relate, many times I keep myself at my desk working, when I feel like I’m not making good progress, good decisions, or being particularly productive. In this sense, it’s my will or guilt that keeps me focused - not my ability to focus. I really feel this has been a hindrance since last fall when I became overwhelmed…..
So buy his book and read it with me! I really can’t recommend it highly enough as this is becoming a turning point for my thinking and acting.
The turning will blossom an awesome new announcement…..stay tuned.
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- On Art , Philosophy , Reviews , The Zone , learning
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A reading of Leonardo Da Vinci by Ira Glass
An appropriate ending for wedding photographers, from the ‘blame it on art’ episode..
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The quality of learning
Josh Waitzkin is interviewed/answers questions on Talk of the Nation about learning deaply and truely - I’m going to read this book as Motorcyle Maintenance was a favorite of mine in college. I have always been a quality based learner to the frustration of my teachers and the poor grades that disinterest can produce. I hope that I can teach to this sensibility of quality in the Make Light Real photography workshops.
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Philosophy of a Monk turned taylor
Together, these two themes became a central focal point in my life, and together they defined how I came to see quality. To wit: Truth is of prime importance in my life. And that what is true, manifests a definite expression of beauty. And I’m sure you’ll agree with me that something beautiful speaks its own truth. So this is how I see my work: It must be true, that is to say, it must be exactly what it is said to be: really bespoke, really handmade. The price must be true as well: I could ask a whole lot more for it, but that wouldn’t be very honest: Profit: yes, amassment: No. Simple.
I’ve been thinking about my work, and what’s important a lot lately and have had to re-arrange some things around here. There have been quite a lot of questions, and this little statement by Martin Stall seems to sum things up nicely. (The link has his whole story.)
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Myself, the thing itself and getting beyond them
–Somewhere slightly west of Alaska on the way to Tokyo —
Quoting from Bob Krist’s Spirit of Place “Unfortunately this emphasis on me is rampant in photography today.” p12 “If the images are not rooted in ‘the thing itself,’ to use Edwards Weston’s term, then the photographer has not learned anything about the real world. He can only justify the images by reference to self: ‘This is how I felt.’ …there can never be any objective bookmarks against which to measure the success or failure of these images. The results are often banal, superficial images created and defended in the name of ‘personal vision’.”
It seems that Bob is being a bit cynical, but he’s right in the empirical sense. I regret however that it seems he’s a little behind the curve when it comes to what photography can be - or he’s just very true to journalistic ideals. I want to take my journalistic captures and bring them further, to beyond simple reality to where eternity and the moment can be transposed across each other. To make an image where place & time are stopped and universal meaning begin to show through.
I hope in some way going so far beyond home will help me get beyond myself.
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