SLOW PHOTOGRAPHY #81 TWO GODS

Two Gods

Jim Austin Jimages

"When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow."   ~  Anais Nin

The truths we hold as self-evident can make us strong. Yet, we can easily carry them to extremes. When our truths about our creative process emerge from darker places, they may hinder our curiosity. To open our vision to other novel vistas, we may need to let go of what we hold tight.

In an old Anglican church, shadow and sunlight patterns danced on a wall around the decaying windows. Clouds floated across the sun. I wondered if the essence of this illumination could be expressed in a picture. 

Watching these rays of light and shadows move across the wall, I slowed down to steady my mind and the camera.

Colors were vivid. Greens and yellows emerged from the darker hues. I noticed the broken shutter with vines growing in, as if through an eye. Mother nature came in one tendril at a time, through these aging walls of Faith. The God of Nature met the God of Faith.

In photography, there are two Gods. First, the God of Speed is worshipped everywhere. Then, there is the deity of sharpness. These two Gods dominate popular photography. 

Worship these Gods blindly, without healthy skepticism, and we demolish creativity. Making better pictures means finding flexible ways to think, perhaps by asking difficult questions and patiently loving the questions instead of rushing toward surface answers.

We need not worship our thoughts. While they may feel real, they are only passing clouds, not absolute truths. Creative seeing begins with surrendering the idea that all our thoughts are absolute truths.

SLOW PHOTOGRAPHY #81 TWO GODS
https://shootslow.blogspot.com/2018/02/slow-photography-81-two-gods.html