My daily meditative photo walk keeps my spirit hight.
In fact, I try to go out and wander in my neighbourhood at least once a day, capturing the beauty of my everyday life and surroundings. Sometimes, I come back empty-handed without a decent photograph but my mind is calmer and I feel more grounded.
To start with, what is meditation? It has become a common word but what does it really mean? For this reason, I’m going to share the definition I like the most because it is inclusive of all beliefs.
Meditation is the observation of one’s thoughts, body sensations, and emotions in a non-judgmental way.
As a consequence, a meditative photo walk is to be in this state of total acceptance of the present moment and capture what unfolds in front of us in a non-judgmental way.
Colour Your Meditative Photo Walk
“Sometimes I don’t shoot, I linger. I choose the frame in my viewfinder including all the elements – walls, trees, pylons, spaces – that will provide the desired mood or character, and I wait patiently for the theatre of life to surprise me with people, animals, shadows.”
– Abbas Attar
The first time I came back from India to London I thought someone had stolen all the colours of the world. Indeed, the city was monochrome with all shades of grey. It took me a bit of time to adjust and rediscover them.
Therefore, I invite you to celebrate the colours you will encounter during your walks, at home, and even on your plate.
Take Less Photographs
In the mid-70’s Stephen Shore started using an 8×10 large-format camera and was taking only one photograph of whatever he was shooting.
“It came about not as an aesthetic discipline, but a matter of economics. With the color 8×10, it would cost $15 a shot—about $75 in today’s money—every time I took a picture. I just decided I wouldn’t take more than one picture of anything, and over time this became an extraordinary discipline—it forced me to decide what I really wanted.” – Stephen Shore
Before taking a photograph look attentively at your subject. Imagine that like Stephen Shore you can only take one picture.
Pay attention to the light, your breathing, and when you know what you want, take your picture.
And most importantly, don’t chimp (looking at your camera’s LCD screen immediately after taking a photograph) to avoid judging the result.
And continu your meditative photo walk.
The Adventure Starts At Home
The meditative photo walk starts at home. Begin by finding a subject that can fill your frame with one or two colours to start with.
Something you see every day, that is overlooked but yet beautiful like red curtains, a blue wall or a yellow table.
If you take a picture of an object start by having a plain background before creating a more complex composition.
When you take a photograph decide what you want to add or remove on the edge of your frame.
Colour photography is more challenging than B&W because you have to pay attention to the colours as well as the composition.
Using the relationship between similar colors as a visual anchor is a useful technique to engage the viewer and to keep them looking at an image for longer.
As a consequence, it will develop your powers of observation and make you think about the colours you see.
Tips:
- You can turn up the vibrancy a little in post-production to make your colour “pop”. Don’t overdo it, though, if you don’t want to end up with an unrealistic image.
- Think about the background. The more simple it is, the better the technique will work.
- Keep in mind that your camera tends to underexpose your images to preserve the highlights so don’t forget to increase the exposure and/or brightness afterward.
Celebrate Nature with Your Meditative Photo Walk
What is your relationship with nature? Do you have any plants at home? Are parks part of your daily walk?
As a photographer, I’m passionate about the relationship between urbanism and nature and how they coexist.
Seek Simplicity
You can use negative space* to create simple but yet striking photographs. As a result, it will improve your composition, and catch your viewer’s attention.
For that, fill your photographs with large areas of light, dark shade, or solid colour. Most importantly, seek to subtract rather than adding more information to your composition.
Negative space* is the space around and between the subject – the red jumper (positive space).
Beauty In The Mundane
The aim of the meditative photo walk is to be fully in the present moment and being able to see the world with fresh eyes. I’m inspired by the way children are always enthusiastic about anything.
“Anything becomes interesting if you look at it long enough” – Gustave Flaubert
Explore Your Neighborhood
There’s no need to go too far. Try to have your meditative photo walk in your neighborhood, rediscovering hidden gems, paying attention to details, and observing how the light changes day after day as winter is slowly giving way to spring.
Inspirational Reference for Your Meditative Photo Walk
“There is another side to Hackney Wick. Away from the noise and chaos nature has somehow managed to find and keep a place for itself. The canals and rivers and secret allotments (known only to their dedicated gardeners) are home to many birds and animals. These hidden paradises have a vibrancy of their own which will soon be muted by the dust that will cover them.”
– Stephen Gill, 2004
Meditative Photo Walk Assignment
Now, forget everything you’ve read and go out for a meditative photo walk. Try not to have a plan and let your intuition guide you.
With this in mind, be conscious of your breath, of your feet touching the ground, the air caressing your skin, and the light revealing the world for the first time.
And when you feel it’s the right moment, take a photograph – just one – and carry on.
At the end of the assignment pick your 3 favorites and send them to me so I can share them with our community.
Peace,
Pierre