The Inner Path of Photography

We yearn for the taste of the sacred…and through our cameras discover it, the world, and ourselves.

Category: Travel

My studio…today.

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May your day be full of
wide open spaces

Allowing your  heart to expand
your soul to dream

and your mind to create
your deepest desires.

“Timeless Drive, New Mexico”
© Heidi Straube 2015

Photographer’s Note:

Driving from Houston to New Mexico last week, I asked Google to give me a new route from Amarillo to Taos. The route turned out to be nearly 4 hours of wide open grasslands and desert –  a random truck 2 hours in – one town of 145 people to pass through – no cell connection – total silence except for the wind when I got out of the car to make photographs.

Meditative. Awe inspiring. A little scary if I allowed myself the “I’m all alone out here and what if something (bad) happens?” game.  A perfect way to see where my mind goes when it has nothing to distract.

I enjoyed being in the moment, breathing, allowing the beauty of my surroundings, relaxing into the pleasure of experiencing something new, unknown, unplanned.

The timelessness of forward motion holding the very real experience that, in this very moment, all is perfect.

“Imagine…”


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Imagine what it would feel like

to be unconditionally loved

by everyone and everything.

Feel it.  

Be it.

Live it.


Image: “Twilight Beauty”
Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
© 2015 Heidi Straube

“One More Chance”…My scroll hanging at Peter T. Brown Gallery

"As if in a dream…" scroll wall hanging, Peter T Brown Gallery Houston, TX, Heidi Straube

Below is the original post about  my scroll wall hanging “As if in a dream…seaside contemplations.”

The exhibition will be up until March 12 – so I invite you to see my work and other wonderful images if you haven’t had a chance to do so. Enjoy…

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I’m pleased to share with you my latest scroll wall hanging,
“As if in a dream…seaside contemplations”

in the inaugural exhibition
“Over Time: Photography from the Advanced Photography Workshop”
Peter T. Brown Gallery, Houston, Texas.

I’m enjoying integrating my love of meditation, Japanese sensibilities, and beauty of the sea in my current work, and am happy to share this special hanging with you.

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“As if in a dream…seaside contemplations” is my contemporary interpretation of the art and intention of traditional scroll wall hangings created by Japanese Zen monks.

In Zenga (Zen art) the scrolls come from an act of meditation. The monk/artist immerses himself in the essence of Spirit, then expresses it visually, to share and inspire a similar experience in the viewer.

Hangings such as these are placed in a contemplative space in the home, to remind and reconnect the viewer to the ever-present inner bliss and beautiful outer manifestations of God.

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I believe deeply that we all deserve to be connected to our joy…whether we call it God, inner peace, or Spirit.

Life challenges us, and we forget about this beautiful essence within. My work, in the spirit of Zenga, is to bring that spiritual experience to people, and to feel it myself as I create my photographic images and the forms they take.

I invite you to the experience of meeting your soul through photography.

hstraube_asifinadreamscrollhanging_frontv2_petertbrowngallery_2014-9080"As if an dream…seaside contemplations" scroll wall hanging, Heidi Straube - Inner Path photography

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The scroll: I chose three images from my contemplative series, “Sea Dreams,” printed them on archival velvet-style paper, and designed a hand-stitched silk Jacquard scroll wall hanging to complement their peaceful presence. While the front of the scroll highlights the images, the back also radiates it own beauty with hand-stitching, a subtle golden Japanese leaf print on green silk, and a small signed contemplative seaside image gracing the top.

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The Peter T. Brown Gallery, located in the Anderson-Clarke Center at Rice University, is open Monday – Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM, Thursdays until 8:00 PM. Enter Entrance #8, at University Boulevard and Stockton Drive. The Anderson-Clarke Center will be on your left. There is free 15-minute parking behind the building.

More about the Peter T. Brown Gallery & the Glasscock School of Continuing Education, Rice University

More contemplative images from Heidi Straube

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“Impermanence Through Graffiti”

Carnival © 2013 Miteff Enterprises, Nik 707

 

“Turning a Subway Car Into a Gallery, Until the Last Stop” – NY Times – 3/1/2015

Love how this artist demonstrates impermanence, creativity, and passion all in one train ride.

And you can experience it all by just going to New York City and riding the subway…Although which line will Nic 707 and his collaborators choose today?

The artist dropped his art practice, and then returned over 20 years later – an interesting story of how he circled back  to his original inspiration.

There are many ways to find your Path.

 

Image from InstaFame Phantom Art
Artist: Nic 707, © 2013 Miteff Enterprises