1694 - It Was Raining


So, over on April’s blog, Flo considers me a “contemplative photographer”. Really, I’ve no idea what they’re talking about, they discuss a book that I’ve not read, but when I just try to understand what it could mean, I arrive at something like this picture. Contemplative enough?

This should have been an image of Wednesday, but although I have some, there is nothing that inspires me. This one is from today (actually yesterday already). We had rain in the morning and several times during the day.

The Song of the Day is “It Was Raining” from the 2003 Devil Doll album “Queen of Pain”. Hear it on YouTube.


There are 3 comments

Flo (tonebytone)   (2011-06-11)

Andreas, you often see things that many other do not see. I think you've trained yourself over the years to see in a different way that speaks of being able to shift mental gears in an instant - and you pass by a street or store or bike or car and suddenly become aware of what these scenes have to offer - in other words, I think you've trained your mind to anticipate nothing and therefore you are open to seeing everything in a new light. By becoming "empty" you can fill your mind with new perspectives, just as you did with this car and the raindrops on it. Something about this car caught your mind that day, and so you stopped and looked, then looked through your viewfinder and composed and clicked the shutter. You didn't think about the "rule of thirds" or any of those other silly compositional "do's" and so you were free to compose and shoot this small scene abstracted from a much larger area. I hope this helps somewhat to understand why I think you're a contemplative photographer. In this sense, contemplative I think isn't the best word to describe the mental process - but it's the word chosen by other photographers., so we use it. It means a meditative state of mind in which I do believe we've really switched gears from the usual thinking, figuring Beta state to the more creative, open and empty Alpha state.

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andreas   (2011-06-11)

I think it's very similar to Mark Hobson's "plain seeing". It's just what happens when you do it for a long time and when you do it without an immediate purpose. I mean, both are fine. A project gives you some kind of depth that you otherwise miss. I know it, I did SoFoBoMo three times, two times succeeding to a book, once succeeding to no book πŸ™‚ Otoh, just relaxing, just letting go with the flow, that's a quality that I wouldn't want to miss. And time helps you. The longer you do it, the easier the transition is.

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April   (2011-06-16)

β€œContemplative enough?” Wet, smooth, red! (and black and white). For me, this is all about a sensory/visual experience -- not the motorcycle or the rain per se. So my immediate response is , "Oh yeah." πŸ™‚

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