Are you a #mindfuliger

When I started out on Instagram I was living in Dubai, surrounded by amazing skyscrapers. That is where I was, so I decided to photograph the skyscrapers. 

Dubai is a cultural hot pot and offers one a wonderful opportunity to be exposed to, and practice taking different perspectives. We are so influenced by our upbringing, education and cultural backgrounds that it is not always easy to see a situation at hand from the perspective of another or in a way that encourages growth and change. 

Instead of seeing with open eyes, our vision is often blinkered or filtered.  On my Instagram account  I have tried to encourage the taking of different perspectives in all life situations, by mostly posting photographs which are lookups of buildings, photographing from different angles, or editing the photographs in such a way that a new perspective is presented. It is my wish that my photographs will be a gentle reminder to look at life with fresh eyes.  

In my photography I have been greatly influenced by the work of John Daido Loori Roshi. What follows is a transcript from one of my favorite youtube videos, in which he speaks about Zen Photography. 

“Look at what a photograph is. It’s like 1/60th of a second , or 1/120th of a second, or 1/1000 of a second sometimes. So it’s the moment.....

The moment is a fleeting thing. It arrives as it departs. But the moment is where a life takes place.  And unfortunately most of us miss it. We’re preoccupied with the past which doesn’t exist, it’s already happened. Or we’re preoccupied with the future, worrying about the future. It too doesn’t exist, it hasn’t happened yet. And while we’re so preoccupied, we miss the moment to moment awareness of our life. And that’s where our life takes place. We miss the moment, we’ve missed our lives. So that’s the importance of the moment.........”

My photography flows out of my mindfulness practice, but in many ways I use my photography as a mindfulness practice in itself. When I am out photographing, awareness of all that is happening around me is key.  To capture a scene which I will be able to incorporate into my art,  I need to be particularly alert, sensitive to, and mindful of the moment. 

Today I decided to start a new hashtag on Instagram. I suddenly realized again, something I have known for a long time. It’s all about the moment. Being mindful of the moment is a wonderful message to spread on Instagram. 

So are you a #mindfuliger?

I love words especially new ones! This one has a lovely sound to it. It could be from any language in the world! 

I believe the hashtag #mindfuliger has the potential to add an extra dimension to Instagram. 

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”  -Viktor E. Frankl

If you would like to find out more about incorporating mindfulness into your photography,  you might like to take a look at  the website “Seeing Fresh”.  The About and Galleries sections have some wonderful info and assignments to try out. The end part of the John Daido Loori Roshi video also has some wonderful tips. 

“But when I photograph, what I try do is to get out of the way and let the photograph happen. Let the camera photograph by itself.”  -John Daido Loori Roshi

Are you mindful when you photograph? Would you like to be? Become a #mindfuliger and start adding the hashtag #mindfuliger to your work. I’m very excited to see this new stream on Instagram!