See page spreads from my book below (They’ve been slightly resized for better legibility)
What you see here is the result of a decade of contemplating how to frame a collection of my life’s work in some meaningful way. The original title of this effort was “Awakening to the Light” which seemed to capture my 2 great loves - my passion with imagery as a photographer, and my dedicated practice of Buddhist meditation and philosophy (dharma). What this has resulted in is what you see here - a blending of my creative life expressed in imagery, with insights about my own creative process expressed in words. They’re both about waking up, which applies as much to me as anyone responding to this imagery.
Photography image books are generally conceived with a concrete theme- often a place or subject category. I realized, though, this approach wouldn’t work for me. I don’t do my work in terms of subject matter, place, or any other category in material terms. In fact, I intuitively avoid this.
As an artist my subject is ultimately my own feeling life elicited in emotions inspired by my environment, and its mood. So, while I train my camera outside, I’m more keenly attuned to my own inner world. This is not a subject oriented approach, but an intuitive one. So, the theme of the book concerns this process of seeing, with many examples and commentary, and insights relating it as spiritual practice. But, Stillness is the field holding it all – the ground of infinite potential the Buddhists identify as “Emptiness”.
When one conditions oneself to LIVE IN THE awareness of this field, perception NATURALLY ARRIVeS pristine.
And, the eyes, at last, can “SEE” in the truest sense. What normally passes as seeing is really a filtering act of conditional recognition of only what is already known, expected, or familiar. To truly see in the way I suggest is a revolutionary thing, and novel in this sense.
That is why images arising from this place are experienced as ‘fresh’, or alive in some enchanting way- and tend to have a lasting power to fascinate, or intrigue. They are reflections from an unseen world, but one in which we do live, but regrettably are not conditioned to see. I present this book as an invitation to you so you may travel with me to “nowhere in particular”, and find the magic of that place, which of course, is located within all of our hearts.
As an artist and photographer
my passion’s become clear.
Images are less matter, than mirror.
I’m not here to capture THE common
world we all can see,
but here to do my alchemy,
mixing matter with metaphor,
substance with spirit
until my heart soul sings,
and, with grace, you may hear it.
A little about this book
I’m still in the process of generating this project. The pages you see here are the ones I see as important for expressing what these images-of-a-lifetime are all about. There are still some important pages I’ll add as I go, and I’ll post some of them here. I imagine the book will consist of about 100 pages with around 150 images, and 12x12 in size.
I may try a Quickstarter kind of effort in self publishing, but may alternatively consider a commercial publisher if the project looks commercially viable.
Also, from time to time I may post essays and images on my blog which could end up in the book, so check there, also.
In any event, if you sign my mailing list I’ll keep you informed .
Photography as Spiritual Discipline
In the gathering of ideas for this book, I had trouble identifying a unifying theme to bring this wide spectrum of images from a lifetime into any coherent meaningful whole. My work has no relating theme of subject matter, or place, not a unifying mood, or qualities of light. All these images were just accidents – a serendipitous blending of substance and soul from the moment. I've never set out with an overriding idea or premise about what to shoot. I’ve let the subjects find me and allowed intuition as my witness. This has resulted in a wide variety of subject matter, lighting, and mood. The one thing, though, that unites it all is simply my utter fascination as witness to what I see. Sometimes it's a subtle feeling, but often it’s much more intense, and as my absorption in an image grows, the deeper into stillness my being sinks.
What eventually was to become clear from this project was a single relating factor- the quality of perception holding it all- a certain artist's eye, though generated from subjects taken from the world, they’ve been experienced through a peculiar creative witness, which I’ve come to identify as clear SEEING. From my years of meditation practice, though, I know this as raw perception reflected in the stillness of mind, experienced not as conceptual subject, but qualitatively as raw light, color, and form, and a welcome shadowy feeling presence - whether it be fascination, awe, or the pure sense of esthetic joy, awash when subject and object become ONE. It’s just what happens when the ego self sits out this waltz.
Once the theme of this project was revealed to me, the ideas began to flow. In terms of my Vipassana Meditation, these are insights into and about the whole creative-spiritual process that has consumed me all these years, often recorded in the fresh clarity of the morning in words as poems or essays. What I came to notice was that the exhilaration I came to know through my image creating process was very much echoed in experiences of my Buddhist practices. It struck me that both my meditation/spiritual practice and my intuitive photography practice actually overlapped and enhanced one another.
This was a revelation. In emotional terms the excitement and satisfaction of gathering these insights into words very much resonate with the sublime feelings I get from the composition of any compelling image. There is a sense of engagement with my own life at some core level - call it Soul. And if I've accomplished nothing else, this experience alone resonates in my being throughout the day, and gives me a powerful sense of purpose or meaning. Recognizing this, I realized my insights and my images come from the same esoteric felt sense within, and so it’s appropriate I present them here, together on these pages.
My mystical view of this is - we live in a conscious universe, and we humans, as conscious beings and non-separate, are wrapped within universal self-awareness. It follows that as vessels of consciousness, we are integral to the purpose of the universe, which is to experience itself in all the delightful qualitative complexity and paradox there is. And I’m just doing my little part, and delighting in it.
Anyone who can disengage a bit from habitual repetitive thought, slip into the moment, and can bring their heart to bear, simply allows Cosmos a little room to dance.
Photography as metaphor
Photography holds the metaphor of our material/spiritual balance. What we see and photograph is not the substance of our world, but a reflection- reflected light from whatever makes up the underlying matrix (some physicists suggest it's nothing solid like we perceive, but mostly a flux of energy waves). From where does this energy and light come? Ultimately the Sun, which is a radiating star.
May I boldly suggest that from a spiritual perspective humans are star beings, and fellow sources of light, capable of shining like stars beaming the same cosmic energy, but the light we produce energetically is our creativity, insight, feelings, and love- entirely novel forms reintroduced into the universal soup. So, the soulful artist echoes an echo, and allows Source the exquisite joy of dancing with herself.
Whether this idea is true or just a metaphor doesn't really matter. The self identified in this way simply leads to a more spacious, happy and harmonious experience in life. And, that's the truth.
Spiritual integration comes through recognizing the "I" that perceives arises from the same ground as all phenomena- as subject and object are ONE. But, to understand this and feel it, changes one’s experience of life, which becomes noticeably friendlier, more flowing and a whole lot richer.
