Contemplative Photography: Back in August, Bridges posted a thread "How do you see - what do you see?" in which he mentioned a book which was about seeing the workld in a new and...

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

Back in August, Bridges posted a thread "How do you see - what do you see?" in which he mentioned a book which was about seeing the workld in a new and different way. His post encouraged me to seek out more about it. Happily I did and found it on Amazon for nearly nothing. The shipping cost more than the book, which was in close to perfect condition with only a few underlines or highlighted ohrases on about three pages.

I have been perusing the book and find it quite interesting. The authors approach the subject in a bit of a meditative direction, but it is informative and thought provoking. I would reccommend it for a different way of thinking about photography.

To Bridges, thank you for your post and I am enjoying the book.

niteman3d Loc: South Central Pennsylvania, USA

Is it the one by Rick Sammon?

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I have both, "The Practice of Contemplative Photography" by Andy Karr and "Photography and the Art of Seeing" by Freeman Patterson. Both are interesting books that show a different approach to subjects for those who want to explore how to see photographically.
Freeman Patterson offers lots of exercises in his book and I personally like some of them. Those books in my opinion are not for the landscape photographer but rather for the photographer that wants to expand on different ways of seeing the subject. One of the exercises in the Patterson book is very useful when shooting in the woods.

Many of the examples shown in "The Practice of Contemplative Photography" in my humble opinion are good examples of minimalist photography. I did not like many of the photographs I saw but others could enjoy them, we are all different. Macro and abstract photographers should benefit from reading these books showing them how to see their subjects in a different, perhaps radical way.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

On UHH there are several photographers who are so deeply immersed in the technical aspects that the result IMO is photos that are purely documentary, with no emotion, nothing unique. Thanks for the reminder of how rewarding the other side can be!

I pulled this quote from a Contemplative Photography web page. Hope it's accurate

"As Henri Cartier-Bresson, the master of the decisive moment said,

'Technique is important only insofar as you must master it in order to communicate what you see… In any case, people think far too much about techniques and not enough about seeing.' ”

https://kimberlypoppe.com/blog/what-is-contemplative-photography-miksang#_ftn1

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camerapapi wrote:

I have both, "The Practice of Contemplative P... (show quote)

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Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Linda From Maine wrote:

On UHH there are several photographers who are so ... (show quote)

Thank you for sharing that quote. Cartier-Bresson is one of my favorite photographers.

tcthome Loc: NJ

Linda From Maine wrote:

On UHH there are several photographers who are so ... (show quote)

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

niteman3d wrote:

Is it the one by Rick Sammon?

I refer to the one by Andy Karr and Michael Wood.

bkwaters

Linda From Maine wrote:

On UHH there are several photographers who are so ... (show quote)

This is why photography competitions can be deleterious if the judge cannot see out of the box. Concepts like nature/landscape photographs may not include man-made objects or expecting every flower image to include a background texture layer just stifles creativity. Not everything that's beautiful, meaningful or provocative fits a predetermined framework.

MDI Mainer

bkwaters wrote:

This is why photography competitions can be deleterious if the judge cannot see out of the box. Concepts like nature/landscape photographs may not include man-made objects or expecting every flower image to include a background texture layer just stifles creativity. Not everything that's beautiful, meaningful or provocative fits a predetermined framework.

On the other hand, how many times have we read pixel-peeping posts on UHH that are dismissive, if not contemptuous, of the winning entries in world-renowned photography competitions.

MDI Mainer

Linda From Maine wrote:

On UHH there are several photographers who are so ... (show quote)

"Photographer" may be overly forgiving, but other wise a thought-provoking post.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

bkwaters wrote:

This is why photography competitions can be deleterious if the judge cannot see out of the box. Concepts like nature/landscape photographs may not include man-made objects or expecting every flower image to include a background texture layer just stifles creativity. Not everything that's beautiful, meaningful or provocative fits a predetermined framework.

It has been many, many years since I entered a competition. From yours and other comments in the past, it sounds like an exercise in frustration that one should actively avoid in our golden years

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

MDI Mainer wrote:

"Photographer" may be overly forgiving, but other wise a thought-provoking post.

Attempting to define "photographer," and its corollary "is a cell phone pic a photograph," are - to me - boring and pointless discussions.

If someone is strongly left-brained, certainly their photography will be different from those of us who like to dive deep into our right-brain zone

I will say that since joining UHH, I have come to truly hate the term "tack sharp."

Winter Dawn, on Flickr
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goldenyears Loc: Lake Osewgo

[quote=a different way of thinking about photography.[/quote]

Looking for a copy, but before I receive it, can you describe the concept briefly?

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

Linda From Maine wrote:

On UHH there are several photographers who are so ... (show quote)

The flip side of that is that Cartier-Bresson isn’t discounting technique. In any artistic endeavor vision is key but as he said, you need the technique to communicate that vision. Both technique and developing your vision take putting in the work.