This is my submission for Brenda’s A Photo Study: Seeing.
Brenda has posted several articles regarding Contemplative Photography. Her first article, “Seeing”, in the series was posted on June, 2. In it, she provided us a link to Cemal Ekin’s article, “Seeing is the Essence of Photography, And You Can Learn to Do It Better.” I’m very happy to find out that seeing can be improved 😉
Cemal Ekin, in his article, suggests a simple exercise for us to try. You can also find this exercise in Brenda’s article, so I am not going to repeat it here. Basically, I stayed in our garage for 15 minutes and took 34 photos. “Look for texture, lines, shapes, forms rather than “things” to photograph,” Cemal says.
I found out that “not looking for things” does take some time to get used to. Even though I was trying to only see lines, shape, texture… etc., my first 3 photos turned out to be “things” that had lines, texture, and shape. However, ““Try to focus on things that normally escape your attention…” is quite easy, since I don’t usually spend time in garage anyway. 😉
It’s a fun exercise, I have to say. Thank you, Brenda.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
HHC Blog 
“Not looking for the thing” is a new concept to me too, I don’t know how I can click the shot? But in the end excellent outcome! 🙂 Very well captured!
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Thanks, Raj. Maybe it’s my lazy English confused you. We still look for lines, shapes, colors… only lines, shapes, colors… not bike, car, a whole tree…
Good night.
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Nicely done – and I love that kind of “seeing”. Got the same exercise from Otto von Munchov. Love this!
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Thanks, Anne-Christine . I took “Finding your Photographing Voice” from Otto. I don’t remember we had this kind of exercise. But I took the class when I was started taking photos, so I struggled a bit. ha.
Have a great day.
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I like the metal swirly thing.
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Good afternoon, Lois. How are you?
That metal swirly thing is the top view of a roll of garbage bags 😉 Now I feel like a smart cookie… ha.
Have a great day.
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You are one smart cookie, Helen! I would not have known….now I want to go in my garage and see what we have out there…
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Let me know what you find. Ha.
Good night.
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I enjoyed these images…it is interesting to invite ourselves to see differently. I find that I’m still very “focused” on subjects, objects, labels. In time….in time….
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Thanks, Brenda. I feel like your independent study student — learning your lessons in my own pace. 😉 You have so many wonderful articles. Thank you!
To be honest, I wasn’t sure I could find 30 photos in our garage. Trying not to focus on subjects makes it even harder. This experience surprised me.
I asked myself if I, as a photographer, have changed after doing this exercise. The answer is: I think I have, even though the change is subtle. The change is subtle — maybe that’s why you think you are still very “focused” on subjects… etc. When the moment present itself, I think we will do better than before 😉
Have a great day.
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Great exercise to train your eye! I will have to try this. I have done a “photo walk” with my son when he was younger. I gave him one of my cameras and the objective was to photograph shapes. It was a lot of fun and eye opening!
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Thank you, Angela. Your son is lucky! I would love to have a “photo walk” with my mom at any time. Not many people had a camera back then, come to think of it.
I love your blog and your photos. Thanks for stopping by, so I can start enjoying visiting your blog.
Have a great day.
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This sounds like a great exercise, I am so glad you posted it. I remember a long time ago reading books like “The Zen of Seeing”, but I somehow always fall back to my old way of seeing. I will really try this with the camera. Your garage photos are great, and this type of exercise is good for our minds as we age.
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Thanks, Carol. It is an interesting exercise. I din’t think I could come up with 30 photos in our garage 😉
“The Zen of Seeing” — sounds like an interesting book. I could be wrong… I think this is coming in Brenda’s later posts. We’ll see.
Have a great day.
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The Zen of Seeing was written in 1973, way before everyone copied the phrase, the “zen of” …. In it the author, Frederick Franck, writes about using drawing as meditation, really looking at people, landscapes, animals, leaves in a deeper way. Your photographs make me feel you really do look at people, landscapes, animals, leaves in the way he is talking about. I have been moved by your photographs and I am grateful that you publish them on WordPress
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Ahhh, bless your heart, Carol. Your comment moves me. Now that I have studied Buddhism a little bit, I have become more aware of who I am, and I definitely have a lot to learn. Knowing that you have read “zen of” makes me feel closer to you, even though I haven’t read the book 😉
I googled this book and eventually, I found Frank Ostaseski — what a great person. Now I have so many choices to listen to when I walk.
Good night, Carol.
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Isn’t it amazing how the internet allows us to follow a thread? I mention Frederick Franck, and you mentioned Frank Ostaseski, so I googled him, and wow, I got the website called Brain Pickings, (which I already subscribed to.) It is wonderful, but I don’t always have time to read it. I studied Buddhism quite a bit when I was younger.
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Thanks, Carol. I subscribed Brain Pickings 😉 So little time, so many great articles…
Have a wonderful day.
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