In the act of deeply seeing, we transcend the boundaries between the self
and the otherness of the world, momentarily merging with the thing seen.
— Alex Grey
Aging with Spirit through Contemplative Photography
As viewers of this blog will know, I have been taking photographs of shadows for about ten years now. My first spiritual practice chosen for later life is writing. My second spiritual practice came upon me before I deliberately chose to continue.
Our family camera was stolen in Stockholm Central train station in 2005. The silver lining to this incident is my learning to use the good digital camera we purchased to replace the film camera. With the automatic zoom and the ability to click/click/click, I fell in love with capturing the moment – actually the light in the moment. Within three years, photography became an intentional way of paying attention to beauty and being open to surprise.
Now I am giving workshops on Aging with Spirit – which address contemplative photography, much in the way this monthly blog addresses contemplative writing.
See my review below of Christine Valters Paintner’s book Eye of the Heart as well as Karr & Wood’s book The Practice of Contemplative Photography and their website: SeeingFresh.
Karr and Wood define contemplative photography as “a method for seeing and photographing the world in fresh ways, to reveal richness and beauty that is normally hidden from view.” I was especially taken with Paintner’s notion of receiving images vs. taking photographs. Receiving images of my own shadow in a variety of contexts and my journaling about why I am drawn to this type of selfie/unselfie keep me reaching toward mystery.
Aging with Spirit
Conversation When your Partner is Dying
Writing Exercise
Take your camera on a walk, use the zoom to take photos of branches and windows up high, hold the camera low to capture closeups of leaves and steps. Then take whatever shots you like.
At home sort through the images for three which you like and write about them – letting the words and images take you wherever the pen goes.
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Book Review
Eyes of the Heart: Photography As a Christian Contemplative Practice.
Christine Valters Paintner. Notre Dame, IN: Sorin Books, 2013.
Christine Valters Paintner is a writer, artist, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and teacher. She hosts the website Abbey of the Arts and offers retreats and classes from her home in Galway, Ireland.
Having been introduced to the notion of contemplative photography through an online course by Jan Phillips presented by Spirituality and Practice, I was especially taken with Paintner’s notion of receiving images rather than just taking photographs – being open to mystery.
Photography as a spiritual practice combines the active art of image-receiving with the contemplative nature and open-heartedness of prayer. It cultivates what I call sacred seeing or seeing with the ‘eyes of the heart’ (Ephesians 1:18). This kind of seeing is our ability to receive the world around us at a deeper level than surface realities.
In this book, Paintner weaves together notions of aging with spirit, love of photography, and contemplative writing about receiving images and their personal meaning. She also offers meditation practices, reflective questions, and suggestions about how to think about photographs.
We learn how to cultivate our vision, seek out shadow and light, examine the interplay between what is revealed and what is hidden, play with the significance of color and the nuances of black and white images, explore windows and mirrors, and pursue the holy within and everywhere.
Working with this small volume has confirmed my passion for shadow selfie/unselfie photos and given me needed encouragement to journal about specific photos which appeal, to explore what this practice can teach me about me and my place in the world.
With this shadow reflection photo,
I bid you adieu
Ellen