Home › Q&A

Q&A With the Authors

We would love to hear from you. Please post your questions about contemplative photography, comments about the book, or other observations about contemplative mind and life. We will do our best to respond to whatever you post. (Please keep in mind that we are running as fast as we can, and may not get to this as soon we would like.)

Ask a question ›
 

Recent Questions and Answers:

interactions on this site

Submitted by Evelyn Bach
Question: 

Hi, I'm a newbie here. New to Miksang, and blown away by it. I feel so at home in this way of approaching the world. My question is about the way the site works - do people communicate about the photos? I haven't seen many comments. Is the purpose mostly to put visual galleries together or to establish some kind of community?

Answer: 

Welcome Evelyn, and thanks for participating. We want the site to be a resource for people who are new to contemplative photography, and also a hub for the contemplative photography community. Your suggestions for improvements would be very much appreciated.

Still Life Photography

Submitted by Peter
Question: 

Hello Andy I would like to ask about the place of Still Life in contemplative photography. By "Still Life" I mean scenes (often of common articles or plants) which have usually been, at least in part, constructed by the photographer. On the one hand I can see that from the contemplative viewpoint they might be seen as contrived and conceptual. On the other, at their best they seem to be aimed at revealing a true perception which is very much in the contemplative tradition. What do you think? Regards Peter

Answer: 

Hi Peter,
That's a tricky question because the answer depends on your inner experience. A still life could just be an exercise in fabricating something you imagine. Alternatively, you could set up your objects, and use them to practice seeing. That would make it into a contemplative practice. To do this, you would have to let go of any ideas about the image you are trying to create, and try to approach the scene in a fresh way.

It would be interesting to see if you could do this, and what the experience is like. Please keep us posted.

 

 

The Book

“This is not your usual ‘how to be a better photographer’ book. It takes you into deeper water. It requires investigation and commitment to areas new to you. Among other things, you will think about perception in new ways. If you read this book with care, and without skepticism, it will radically expand your thinking, seeing, and photography.”

—Jay Maisel, photographer
and author of Light on America