Moments of recognition

“I think what I’m trying to do is create moments of recognition. To try to detonate some kind of feeling or understanding of lived experience.” – Barbara Kruger

I take this year-round online photography class. This week I am asked this question of how I see my photography practice as a vehicle and where does it lead me? The question prompts me to reflect on my experience. Lately I have been seeing the act of making images as part of my spiritual practice. It is common to equate any spiritual practice with religion. I have perhaps a different interpretation as I have no affiliation towards any religion despite my years of meditation practice. With that being said, I do feel photography, or perhaps pursuing any art form can be viewed as a spiritual experience.

To me, photography can be a spiritual experience as I see it as a tool that encourages me to pay attention when I have those "moments of recognition". Moments that may seem trivial can carry deep personal meaning when I allow myself the opportunity to reflect on them. For some people, the only objective in making images is to get noticed by others. For me there is a great deal of ritual in photography. When I am engrossed in the process, there is the expectation of putting myself in a space that opens me up to seeing the world in a new way. The “opening up” and be receptive to the moment goes beyond the being noticed mentality. It is the being in touch with my inner being, putting away the filters and judgment, seeing things for what they are and exploring different viewpoints that make it a unique experience.

My photography practice has served as a rich vehicle for deepening my way of thinking, appreciating, and revealing aspects of life that I am not aware of. Photography has also served as another form of meditation to me. I see and feel more keenly subtle forms of energy that is part of my daily experience. Those "moments of recognition" are moments when I recognize myself out in the world: what speaks to me, what touches my heart, and what values I hold dear. There are occasions when I recognize the presence of spirit, grace, transcendence in the midst of the everyday. With my camera in hand, I am more in tune with the environment I am in, and I look for opportunities to hopefully transcend something from mundane to extraordinary.

At times, when I look through my viewfinder, I am in another world entirely, one made up of only that rectangle I see through my camera. Sometimes I have this feeling of euphoria. I know I am onto something big, but not necessarily in literal sense with regards to the size of the subject I photograph. It can well be something insignificant to people, yet they speak to me. I look for ways to make the “unseen” seen. The euphoria I feel at times while taking pictures borders on wellness. I feel alive, I feel healthy.

I took an image of a tiny leaf caught on a vine this week at a local nature trail. There was something about this moment of noticing a tiny object made me think this could as a metaphor for my photography practice. I placed my hand on the vine and pointed my finger towards the tiny leaf. The message I try to convey is, objects and moments could seem ordinary, we can, however, direct viewers’ attention by pointing our cameras towards them in such ways we give those subjects meaning. The process of identifying the subject, figuring out how to tell the story, the actual shoot and the postproduction feels like a ritual of connecting with the world. The memory of this lovely natural thing and the making of the image gives me a near-spiritual experience. It is something I cherish and the reason I am passionate about photography.