Contemplative Photography: Chapter 17: Equality

View of Sharjah from Twar

There are no further exercises and the book concludes with a brief recapitulation of the essence of contemplative photography.  The authors are emphatic that CP is not a style or subject, but a method of seeing.  As such, anything that can be seen is a suitable subject.  “It is not what you shoot, but how you shoot it.”  The point of departure is nonconceptual vs conceptual.  The former is CP, the attempt to depict a discovery, where the latter seeks to mine the visual field for a preconceived idea.  [This contrast - and the college’s dependence on a conceptual approach - is the primary reason I have put aside formal photography education.]

The authors suggest the work of Weston, Cartier-Bresson, and Kertesz shows signs of the contemplative, images that demonstrate uncontrived ways of seeing.

The CP method is not confined to photographic practice, but is available at all times so long as we begin with the intention to see clearly.  By learning to do so, we free our mind from expectations and learn to experience the world afresh, as it appears before we layer it with words and ideas. “Seeing things as they are is also accepting them as they are, which leads to appreciating them as they are.”

A review of the images in this book and in CP groups at Flickr and FB, though, suggest that CP does result in a certain kind of photo.  Images that rely on additive elements are obviously absent, as are examples of what we might call street photography, or captures of unscripted, spontaneous human action or interaction.  I haven’t noticed any images of sport, nor images glamorizing “lifestyles” and their associated consumer goods.  What we do find is that many images are parts of everyday objects.  We don’t see cars, but a gas cap, wheel cover, or door handle.  We aren’t shown a sink, but a drain.  There are leaves poking out of the corner, but no trees to be seen.  There is a mouth, but no face;  a corner of a pillow and headboard, but no bed.  Objects are suggested through their parts, but the emphasis (as outlined in the exercises) is on color, texture, form, or light, rather than the thing itself.  (The only images that tend toward wholeness are landscapes, though in fact no landscape is ever whole.)  This makes sense since the point of CP is not to see things, but simply to see.  Getting the whole bed into the frame is not important as we are not interested in the idea of bed.


Epilogue
The authors outline the trajectories of the their careers and how they came to CP.  Most interesting to note is Michael Wood’s decision to limit his field of work to his backyard and a nearby alley in order to develop his practice of seeing.  Included here is a selection of photos from Chogyam Trungpa, the the Tibetan teacher who inspired Karr and Wood.

Appendices
One each on choosing a camera and tips on post-processing.  Both are quite short and simple, emphasizing in the first the trade-off between control and ease/portability, and in the second minimal changes to tonal range and color cast.

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