The Inner Path of Photography

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

Tag: images

April 19, 2010

FotoFest 2010 Notes – MFAH: Hatakeyama Naoya

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) has  a huge exhibit this year for FotoFest, titled, “Ruptures and Continuities: Photography Made after 1960 from the MFAH Collection”

Nearly 200 images from over 80 artists are grouped in five themes…read the Museum’s description, it will give you an idea of what you’re in store for.

I found much of the work interesting, and nice to know to fill in more of my knowledge about photography over the years, and how it has been used, but two images in particular caught my eye, along with what the artist had to say about his work.

1) Hatakeyama Naoya, “Underground #6411”

I was drawn to this image for the simplicity, beautiful lighting, and mysterious beauty of it. It was interesting to feel such a spiritual feeling from the light in a sewer tunnel. The notes written by the MFAH curator beside the image gave words to the connection I felt with  this artist and his work:

“The experience recalled the same feeling of helplessness he had felt 30 years earlier searching for a light in a cave near his home, or standing on a giant dune in the Sahara. In the darkness of the sewer system, he realized that he was the only one needing light, compelled to feel the existence of nature, the sublime.” (my bolding/italics).

My kind of guy.

Click here for the MFAH picture of the image. This excerpt from their catalog gives you a framework for Naoya’s work:

“Since the late 1980s, Hatakeyama Naoya has created interlocking series of photographs about Tokyo. He began photographing the limestone quarries from which the buildings of Tokyo are built. Then he photographed the rivers leading to and through the city, and finally, the tunnels beneath it. This picture is haunting beyond our knowledge of where it was taken. He has created a strange stage, awaiting both players and audiences.”

There is also an artist’s page on French Artnet, where there is this image, more of his work, , and a CV of the the artist reflecting the many  projects he has worked on.

You’ll see on the French Artnet page that Naoya has also explored the art of  seascapes.  His approach and sensibility speaks to me;  reflecting what I am drawn to capture in my own work….

How nice to unexpectedly find the inspiration of a kindred spirit…

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January 19, 2010

Patience…As the new year unfolds

“Be quiet now and wait.
It may be that the ocean one,
the one we desire so to move into and become
desires us out here on land a little longer,
going our sundry roads to the shore.”
– Rumi

“Christmas Morning, Hammonasset”

When a new year starts,
our tendency is to feel that we should

“get back to business”
“get serious”
“do all the things that we put off during the holidays”

We become impatient with ourselves
feeling we’re not accomplishing things fast enough
Already not achieving goals as the new year speeds away

Perhaps there are things in our lives that need attention
that we would do well to bring back into our consciousness and address

But when you were talking about your new year’s resolutions
did you vow to listen to your inner voice?

Did you reflect on what it would look like to honor yourself,
to act on your desire to be that person you know you truly are?

Breathe deeply. Try not to rush.
The new year is but a date on a calendar.
Your life is a constant flow…

Do not stand on the bank.
Jump in the river with me.
As you begin the year of 2010, be patient with yourself.
In your life, in your work, in your art

Be silent now.
Say fewer and fewer praise poems.
Let yourself become living poetry.

– Heidi
(Non-italicized lines from Rumi poems)
“Pieces of a Broken Cup,” “Soul Houses”
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August 26, 2009

The Inner Path of Photography – intensive seminar, starts September 8th

Hi…well, the intro class is over, and now it’s time for the big stuff!

4  Tuesdays in September…nine  hours of learning, exploring, and becoming even more adept at listening to your inner voice, matching it with your outer vision, and creating the images and life that bring you joy and satisfaction.

I’m really enjoying sharing my expertise that integrates my background in photography, psychotherapy, and meditative and healing arts; let me share the magic with you.

SEPTEMBER, 2009

“THE INNER PATH OF PHOTOGRAPHY”
Intensive Seminar

September 8, 15, 22, 29, 2009 (4 Tuesdays), 6:15 pm – 8:30 pm
Houston, TX (Montrose area, location upon registration)
Fee: $150.00

“Each artist going in his own direction at some time walks on water.”

– Minor White, Photographer

What is the inner experience of photography? Deep, spiritual, rarely discussed…it is what seduces us and send us out to shoot again and again. We yearn for the taste of the sacred…and through our cameras discover it, the world, and ourselves.

This class is for those who want to explore more deeply the intuitive, mystical part of their photography practice, work with personal blocks to full creative expression, as well as learn more about themselves and life challenges and choices.

Drawing on the tradition of the photographer Minor White, and using techniques and philosophies from Zen, psychology, and other contemplative and healing practices, we’ll come to understand more fully this silent experience, apply it to our art, and enhance the quality of both our photography and life.

Attention, resonance, the “still point”…choices, perfectionism, the “click,”…openness to experience, making art vs. being in the flow, embracing the creative process: these are some of the tools that we’ll explore as you build your inner photography practice and improve your outer resulting images.

As you more deeply understand and work with your inner artistic process, you’ll also see how life parallels art, and through this increased awareness,  learn how to more easily dance with  your own life challenges and decisions.

Class includes lecture, exposure to diverse photographic expressions & philosophy, meditative and other experiential,  outside applications (homework), shooting and sharing of photographs.

***Click here to register  online ****

OR

Contact Heidi at heidi@straubephoto.com or 713.521.1676


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August 18, 2009

Photographer’s Anxiety: Making choices

Today I finally have a whole afternoon that I can print photos. I scheduled it that way, and have been looking forward to it, particularly because a group of my photographer friends are coming over tonight to share our work.

“This will be great!” I thought, “I’ll have so many (wonderful, of course) images to show!”

Well.

I’ve been sitting here for the last 45 minutes, browsing through photo shoots with hundreds of images, trying to decide which ones to print.

And feeling totally anxious, truly,  physically anxious…my chest tight, hard to breathe, body tense.

What’s that about?! This is supposed to be fun!

I’m looking…looking…trying to choose…

I have photos from Martha’s Vineyard in June, photos from my brother’s visit and our trip to Galveston in July, photos from my niece and family’s visit to my mother’s in Connecticut. Photos from my latest move, images of my latest storage home :), images from the first day I moved into this beautiful housesit, squirrel images, rain images……aaaack!!

And I want to print them all…RIGHT NOW.

But I can’t print them all this afternoon. Why not? Because I’m not just printing snapshots, I’m printing fine art prints. Which involves making light and color decisions, choosing the best image among similar ones, making paper decisions, trying out prints, seeing what works best, coming up with the ultimate version that makes me happy.

And that takes time. And now I’m already running out of it. And I feel like I have to choose “the most important” images in order to use my time well. Plus, ok, honestly, I want to have something wonderful to show my friends tonight.

What else? Ahem…a little deeper: There’s a whole emotional piece here,  the proverbial elephant in the room.

I  can’t decide whether I want to go the family portraits route and get into that emotional connection, go the landscape direction and be in expanded ocean feeling, or go play with artsy documentation of the moving transition I’ve been making.

They all sound good! They’re all different feelings! I want them all! Now!

And any one of those directions also has the potential to make me feel…conflicted. Not as talented as I’d like to be. Bored. Wishing my life were different.

Crazy-making, right? No wonder artists get such a reputation for being neurotic! I guess we are 🙂

But “neurotic” in a good way.

I like my standards of excellence. I like seeing that I have many choices of artistic direction.

I like the feeling of creation and finally getting into the flow and seeing magic happen as the photos emerge on paper.

And I realize that there’s also the flip side of the creative process: the resistance, the fear of failure, the feeling that it must come out right as soon as possible, the not wanting to “waste” time even though you know that “wasting” time is actually part of the process.

The wanting to have it all, express it all, share the urgency of feeling/seeing all of this beauty and spirit with others, yet knowing that others may not appreciate it.

Hmm, another life theme  as well as a creative challenge. Wanting to do it all, resisting making choices, wanting to know the “right” one, afraid of wasting time. Wanting others to appreciate my efforts. Forgetting that my life’s path is not a rational, straight line, and that any choice will make things unfold, and the adventure will continue.

Enough! Here’s what I’m going to do.

Stop writing this blog.

Embrace my anxiety and delight in my artist’s dilemma (this anxiety must mean I’m a true artist, right? 🙂

Go in the kitchen and eat lunch.

And return ready…

…to be an amazing photographer, in the flow, listening to my inner knowing.

Ready to make some choices, let go of perfectionism,  see what my spirit finds to play with, find the magic, and enjoy the process.

Ready to share the outcome, whatever it may be, with others.

Stay tuned…

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