Contemplative Photography

Contemplative Photography

Class - Photography | Available

251 N Spruce St. Winston-Salem, NC 27101 United States
Photography Studio - 207
Beginner to Professional
11/1/2024-11/15/2024
10:30 AM-12:30 PM EDT on Fri
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$120.00
$108.00

Contemplative Photography

Class - Photography | Available

Miksang, meaning “Good Eye” in Tibetan, helps practitioners to see the world as it is, in the absence of the narratives, concepts and personal preferences usually superimposed by the mind. You are invited to discover a playful path to mindfulness through photography.

Contemplative photography also offers a creative way to perceive the world with greater depth. It is not just about "capturing an image", it is about having an experience of the visual world before creating a story or narrative about it. All that is required is our full attention and a willingness to slow down. Together we will learn the art of composing ourselves before we compose an image. This is a calming and restorative practice that can also makes us better photographers.

Each class will include photographic explorations, sample images for each week’s content and review of student images and discussion. Feedback is both compassionate and highly individualized. We will also examine and discuss photographers and artists whose work is directly influenced by contemplative practices.

The optional text for the course is Looking at Seeing: Nalanda Miksang Contemplative Photography by John McQuade and Miriam Hall, which is available on Amazon.com as a paperback or e-book.

No photography experience is necessary! Just use whatever camera you have available, including your cell phone.

Timothy Auman

I am an ordained lay Buddhist, certified mindfulness teacher, and former university chaplain dedicated to the application of Taoist and Zen thought to the issues of everyday life. As a visual artist, my approach to photography focuses on learning (or perhaps we could say re-learning) how to see. My work is influenced by the Miksang (the Tibetan word for “good eye”) movement, having studied with John McQuade and Miriam Hall for many years. In contemplative photography, we focus on taking the time to actually see, to become aware of and present with what is actually happening in the phenomenal world, and then create an equivalent image with our camera. The main difference between Miksang Contemplative Photography and other forms of photography is that Miksang is based on clear perception before an overlay of thoughts, interpretations, preferences, story lines, likes and dislikes, what we think might make a good image and so forth arise. Meditation, dharma teachings and contemplation are woven into all I teach. If you want to know more about contemplative photography, please sign up for a class.