tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9493601.post7455663133735290814..comments2024-01-11T15:12:49.433-05:00Comments on Tao of Photography by Andy Ilachinski: Experiential "Flow" in PhotographyAndy Ilachinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14572501787099507666noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9493601.post-75712384228509584892011-05-06T09:56:07.423-05:002011-05-06T09:56:07.423-05:00Rereading your blog again I have the following com...Rereading your blog again I have the following comment:When you find yourself in the flow you are not you anymore you are a conduit of a higher power who works through you; and when you think, remember,etc the higher power can not flow thru' you too much interference. When you are in a flow you are extension of this higher power and may be you see what this higher power sees...mamuuliakatiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14188734784784703489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9493601.post-36755215844850029892009-02-08T02:54:00.000-05:002009-02-08T02:54:00.000-05:00Just discovered your blog. I have studied asian re...Just discovered your blog. I have studied asian religions quite a bit and could never understand the void or losing the ego. I never realized until I experienced it during photography that indeed the ego could be lost and yet I could still exist even if not self aware. I think of the photographs taken while in this state as "gifts" since I have little to do with their creation. ThanksAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9493601.post-6382920521488012242008-11-26T17:30:00.000-05:002008-11-26T17:30:00.000-05:00"And what happened next? Well, for you young peopl..."And what happened next? Well, for you young people it was probably no different from what you experience every day of your life. For me it was like…. How can I say? When I'm engaged in some particularly profound piece of mathematics I'm no longer present to it. It is as if I, the me inside, had vanished and the mathematics was expressing itself, flowing freely through me. That's how it began. As something exceptionally beautiful. It seemed to be utterly perfect. It was as if it could not have existed in any other way. It seemed born out of a faultless logic. But it was not a rigorous and compelling logic but something altogether different, something light and joyful, playful almost, as if it were exploring the boundaries of thought. <BR/>No, I still can't capture it for you. I speak of thought and logic but it was not like any form of thought at all. When you are at your most creative you don't even feel yourself thinking. It just happens. It takes place without any movement of thought."<BR/>F. David Peat. "Alien Variations".<BR/>http://www.fdavidpeat.com/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9493601.post-31868673305146089562008-11-23T00:32:00.000-05:002008-11-23T00:32:00.000-05:00I believe that you are quite correct about the flo...I believe that you are quite correct about the flow state as a first principle to doing serious photography. To some extent, one can train one's self to enter into a visually alert and sensitive flow state. My own personal sense is that flow states can have a direct correspondence with Stieglitz's equivalents concept, Adams's visualizations, and with Minor White's general approach. <BR/><BR/>The strongest photographs made in this tradition have a clear affinity with haiku, distilling the essense of the ocean into a few drops of water. As an example, there's Weston's famous pepper and artichoke photographs. <BR/><BR/>Currently vogue theories of academic photography and criticism date to our "cultural revolution" of the late 60s and the 1970s and seem to have lost sight of some worthy classical approaches to photography. In reaction, the current photographic "Academy" is over-burdened by too heavy a load of consciously constructed symbolism, in the process becoming labored and the antithesis of flow state spontaneous seeing. Such photography seems to lose much of its emotional vitality and visual spontaneity in the process. <BR/><BR/>Disclosure: I studied under Minor White at MIT for a bit sometime in the late 60s/early 70s but went on to an entirely different professional career. At the time, I thought that he overdid the mysticism but now realize that I just didn't get it at the time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9493601.post-86826437825884240192008-11-19T21:04:00.000-05:002008-11-19T21:04:00.000-05:00great blog. I love itgreat blog. I love itAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9493601.post-1272906760484943682008-11-15T11:55:00.000-05:002008-11-15T11:55:00.000-05:00Hi Andy,I just happened on your blog as I am worki...Hi Andy,<BR/>I just happened on your blog as I am working on my MFA thesis and was hunting for Minor White images. My thesis is very much about the topics of your blog. As such you might want to look at it, www.rty.blogspot.com <BR/>This is a growing movement with many contemplative photographers at work, both Tibetan Buddhists, Miksang practitioners, Christian Contempatives, Zen and Taoists. Personally the writings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche are at the heart of my practice (Shambhala or Dharma Art)as he directly addresses the role of consciousness and egolessness in the act of creation. I am going to bookmark your site to stay tuned to your musings. Once this paper is done I will be posting segments on my blog too.beckyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06993531976183672184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9493601.post-25272178013196092642008-11-12T00:57:00.000-05:002008-11-12T00:57:00.000-05:00To the extent I can even say afterward, I'm mainly...To the extent I can even say afterward, I'm mainly aware of subject. I almost never remember things I had told myself I should be aware of. If they do occur to me, I almost always reject them in favor of what seems right at the moment (not sure this is always for the best, despite the flow theory). I do occasionally remember to check exposure or f-stop, though I've blown this at times (pun unintended, but not rejected--in the flow, you know).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9493601.post-869593978053679522008-11-12T00:23:00.000-05:002008-11-12T00:23:00.000-05:00I think the best way I can answer this is that to ...I think the best way I can answer this is that to me there's a difference between walking through the woods and walking in the woods. Most people that I meet out on the trail are walking through the woods. They're peripherally aware of the world around them, but they're also caught up in all that's going on in their lives at the time as well as what's been happening and what they're afraid is coming for them. They're living anywhere and everywhere but 'now'. And for myself, I can tell when my photographs are made from this perspective as well. They're flat, they need a lot of post-processing to make them interesting. But when I simply allow myself to be where I am in that moment, to allow what's surrounding me to consume my attention, then my photographs become more than simple documentaries. I still have an old double lens reflex camera for similar reasons. With zoom lenses and with digital the 'shotgun approach' to photography is very easy. This is great for basketball games, but not for landscapes. With a 6x6cm image frame, and only one lens, I really have to give more attention to where I am and what this image is attempting to say for me.<BR/><BR/>Mike.Mike Nelson Peddehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04741523426378336904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9493601.post-1382769647608174982008-11-11T19:13:00.000-05:002008-11-11T19:13:00.000-05:00Yes and no. You are right in that whether flow app...Yes and no. You are right in that whether flow appears or not depends on many more factors than those under your immediate "control"; however, since you strongly influence the degree to which you immerse yourself in a field (be it art, sports, chess, or whatever), and immersion is a critical driver, you have a great of control over the likelihood of achieving "flow". There are no givens, of course. And even when it happens, it may be so quick as to be over before you know it ;-) But it will *never* happen unless you are willing to devote yourself to your craft, completely, in dedicated fashion, over a long period of time.Andy Ilachinskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14572501787099507666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9493601.post-51915874861167635662008-11-11T19:06:00.000-05:002008-11-11T19:06:00.000-05:00don't you think that being in the flow is literall...don't you think that being in the flow is literally beyond ones control; it just literally happens when higher power speaks, takes pictures from above or from inside...katiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14188734784784703489noreply@blogger.com