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B+WBreaking some of the ‘rules’ of composition can lead to subtle images
that express our own unique way of seeing the world.When we live in the present we notice fleeting moments
such as the play of light and shadow on leaves.picture all day, we just say to
ourselves ‘disappointment’ and
let the feeling pass. The aim of
the exercise is to acknowledge
individual feelings, without
wasting any emotional energy
on them. Over time, and with
regular practice, the number
of thoughts and emotions
should decrease, which allows
creativity and fresh insights to
float to the surface.T
his moment-to-moment
awareness is nothing new;
in fact, it’s an ancient
Buddhist tradition known
as mindfulness. According to
Jon Kabat-Zinn (an expert in
stress reduction, relaxation and
meditation) mindfulness relies
on seven attitudes: non-judging,
patience, a beginner’s mind,
trust, non-striving, acceptance,
and letting go. All of these can
be applied to photography.As we have seen, by
acknowledging our thoughts
and emotions without judging
them we can take a step back
and observe the inner critic
as he or she talks, leaving
more headspace for creativity.
This is non-judging. By being
kind to ourselves when we are
frustrated by our inability to
stop the torrent of thoughts and
feelings we become steadier
and less restless, improving our
ability to see. This is patience.
The third attitude, beginner’s
mind, encourages us to see the
world as if for the first time. A
child might put a toy train inhis or her mouth and move it
around to explore the texture.
As adults we see a train and we
think: ‘This is a train, it carries
people from A to B.’ In our mind
it has a fixed purpose, and we
struggle to think of it in any
other way. If we imagine seeing
the train for the first time we
can see it as an arrangement
of shapes, colours, textures,
leading to more creative images.
Now we come to the fourth
attitude: trust. Sometimes we
rely too heavily on outside
sources for guidance: we find a
photograph we admire in a book
and try to recreate it literally;we take a picture we like, but
then notice it doesn’t adhere to
the rule of thirds, so we delete
it. By learning to trust our own
instincts we stand a much better
chance of developing an artistic
style that is unique to us.P
erhaps the hardest
attitude to maintain
is non-striving. When
we begin a task we
almost always have an end
result in mind: we drive to the
supermarket to buy food, we
tend the garden to remove the
weeds, we visit the mountain
to take photographs. We are so
used to doing things all the time
that we forget what it feels like
to switch into being mode. By
placing too much emphasis on
obtaining the perfect picture we
spend most of our time living
in the future, when all we really
have is the present.‘If we try to stop the fl ow of thoughts,
they will simply multiply, causing us more
trouble, and creating even more thoughts.
Our mind will go into overdrive.’
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