Meditational Photography – A Look At The Connections Between Two Seemingly Disparate Activities

It seems to me that there are two types of photographer – the “point and click” type, and the ones who know actually know and care about what they are doing.

To call the latter professionals would be doing an injustice to those who are amateurs (i.e. they do not get paid for their photos), because being an amateur does not necessarily mean you are untalented or unskilled (in photography or almost any other area).

As for the point-and-clickers, I was definitely one of those, for a while at least.

I never used to take a camera on vacation because I thought that if what you saw was memorable enough, you wouldn’t need a photo to remind you of it.

I was wrong, to a large degree – and you cannot, of course, show other people what’s in your brain.

What I did notice, though, once I did start taking a camera and, later, a video camera, with me on holiday (in the days before smartphones), was how taking photos actually meant you observed less.

Even when the goal is to take a quick picture, I was surprised at how easy it was to lose sight, metaphorically and, to an extent, physically, of what was right before your eyes.

This was made even worse, I think, with video cameras, where staring at the viewfinder might show you what’s in front of the camera, but you lose so much.

So, back to the real photographers.

One of the most obvious differentiators is that they know their equipment inside out, and how best to use it to achieve the effect they want. (Yes, even smartphones probably have more camera settings than most people realize, but they are clearly not as flexible or advanced as traditional SLR / DSLR cameras.)

But there are other, less tangible qualities that can make photography more like meditation practice, which is what this article explores.

Focus

Although this word clearly has two meanings in the context of photography, I’m talking about the mental aspect of it.

When creating the perfect photo, you need to be 100% focused on what you are doing, and what’s around you – because being distracted could easily cause you to lose the shot you were looking for.

Mindfulness

An expert photographer needs to be fully in the moment, aware of both himself (or herself, of course), as well as the surroundings (e.g. animals moving, where the light and shadows are, other people or vehicles).

Multiple Perspectives

By this, I mean a good photographer needs to focus on both the details (e.g. choosing the best focal point) as well as the bigger picture (i.e. overall composition) – qualities that resonate with being mindful.

Silence

A photographer often works in silence, which is part of the focused concentration and mindfulness that I’ve just talked about – and it’s beneficial to us too, as you can read about here.

Practice

Like with most things in life, practice makes perfect, or, more accurately, perfect practice steers you toward perfection (since perfection may not be attainable).

And as with meditation, almost nobody gets it right first time – it takes practice, finding what works and what doesn’t work, learning the basics first and then increasing your knowledge gradually.

Patience

Hand in hand with practice is the ability to be patient.

I’ve read many stories of photographers who have waited days, weeks, months, or even years, to get the perfect shot.

But even if some of that seems extreme, it’s not unusual for somebody to wait several hours until everything (e.g. the light) is just right.

Contrast that with the point-and-click brigade, who are generally less concerned with the composition and quality of the photo and more with the speed with which they can take it and then move on.

Being One With Nature

This clearly does not apply to all photographers, because some specialize in particular areas (e.g. portraits, products, real estate, cars), but for those who are landscape and nature photographers, being out there, in nature, waiting to take your photos, can create a feeling of oneness that is increasingly rare these days, for those who live in, and sometimes never even leave, large cities. (This oneness can also be experienced by practising a particular form of meditation known as Boketto.)

Gratitude

Those who approach their art with the right mindset will often consciously be grateful that they had the opportunity to be present and both witness and capture their subjects, whether they be people, animals, or nature.

Imagination & Creativity

Meditation is well-known for helping you to become more creative, and creativity is key to being a good photographer.

Anybody can snap a photo, but using your surroundings and equipment to create a photo that is technically high-quality and which also tells a story requires a particular ability to look beyond the obvious – i.e. to be creative and imaginative.

Coordination

Clearly, being able to use your photographic equipment competently, or expertly, requires a certain level of dexterity and hand/eye coordination, as well as proprioception (i.e. an awareness of where your body is and is moving in relation to other objects around you).

And to meditate successfully, you also need to be coordinated and aware.

Clarity

One of the benefits of meditating is to help you gain clarity – about your life, your feelings, etc.

Being a great photographer also requires you to have that same level of clarity – knowing what you want, and how you are going to achieve it, being able to focus on what’s important as well ignoring anything extraneous.

Conclusion

I find it fascinating that two apparently different skills can have so much overlap, and it brings to mind a training course I attended about 20 years ago, to do with lateral thinking, as made famous by Edward de Bono. (This was actually a course devised by him, but taught by one of his accredited trainers.)

Part of that course involved using a technique where you combine two disparate ideas to help you come up with new solutions to problems.

And it makes me wonder what other commonalities we could find if we use similar techniques. Trying this out may bring new insights you find helpful, and at the very least, it is one way to keep your brain active, which has benefits all of its own.

In the case of the content of this article, would being somebody who meditates make you a better photographer, or does photography help you learn or improve meditation skills? Or is it a bit of both, a two-way street?

Finally, you will find a variety of other articles about different aspects of meditation and mindfulness here.

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Lateral Thinking
2. Photography As Meditation