With Open Eye

Ansel Adams and Edward Weston have written beautifully about meditation on nature as the source of meaningfully seen and executed photographs. Paul Caponigro has also written eloquently on the same subject in the preface of his book, “The Wise Silence.” However, little has been written about meditation type perspective as it applies to documentary photography.

In documentary photography the photographer generally has a subject, idea or notion in mind upon embarking on a photo-essay or documentary project. However, the “decisive moment,” as Cartier-Bresson so nicely called it, isn’t found by accident or preconception. Here I will borrow the Buddhist concept of mindfulness. By quieting slowing the mind chatter and coming to the, “be here now” state of mindfulness one is open the entrance of inspiration. Inspiration to a photographer is matching the idea to the moment. Mindfulness brings the inspiration into focus both literally and figuratively. The “click” of the shutter opens the film or digital storage card to physical being or life of a moment of mindfulness. When that photograph is made by, “may thine eye be single” matching the life of the moment to the eternal moment a fine photograph is taken. This photograph is not an accident but a visual statement of eternity available for all to see. The photographer brings the atmosphere of the essay into position and lets mindfulness find the subject and match it to the moment. The photographer is the interpreter of life and mindfulness through intense concentration on the moment married to the subject. I call this moment, “with open eye.”