The Mindful Photographer

...an introduction

So, by way of getting started…

I am a photographer. But then the world is full of photographers. Well, perhaps the world is full of people who take pictures, not all of them, indeed, most of them, are not photographers. They are people who take pictures. I applaud that. We are visual animals living in a visual world and we are sharing our personal visions at an unprecedented rate in world history. By some accounts there are more than 3 billion images uploaded daily. And that does not include video. As a means of expression, the pictures we take and share are little artifacts of our existence, shards of our being.

But I am, as I said, a photographer. By definition, that means that I too take pictures. So how is it that I call myself a photographer when I am simply doing what untold millions of other people are also doing, people who don’t, by the way, call themselves photographers. And that, friends, is what I want to explore here at The Mindful Photographer. 

And secondly…

You may already call yourself a photographer. So, how do I get off calling myself the mindful photographer? Sounds rather pretentious, doesn’t it? And that is the second theme I want to explore here. What does it mean to be mindful as a photographer? It’s a word much bandied about in modern culture—and because of that, it’s a word I would usually avoid. But I frankly can’t think of a better word to describe how I approach my craft. So let’s just let it sit there for a while and see what we can make of it. Okay?

Where to go from here, the introduction?

I’ll be feeling my way along here, figuring it out as I go, but here’s my game plan as of today. With each post (maybe 2 or 3 a month) I will select one of my images and write a little about what went into the making of the photo. Notice that I said “making” not “taking” the photograph. Photographers make images, not take them. That is one distinction of being a photographer rather than a picture taker. As best I can, I’ll share what I was thinking, seeing, and doing in order to make the image I made. Nothing more complicated than that. But then, of course it’s not as simple as that either. 

Perhaps with enough effort and time, even I will figure out what I do and why I do it!

Thanks for reading. You can find me at Doug Bruns Photography.