The Mindful Photographer Awake in the World with a Camera

Discover your voice, cultivate mindful awareness, and inspire creative growth with photography In The Mindful Photographer, teacher, author, and photographer David Ulrich follows up on the success of his previous book, Zen Camera, by offering photographers, smartphone camera users, and other cultural creatives 55 short (1-5 pages) essays on topics related to photography, mindfulness, personal growth, creativity, and cultivating personal and social awareness. Whether you're seeking to become a better photographer, find your voice, enhance your ability to "see" the world around you, realize your full potential, or refine your personal expression, The Mindful Photographer can help you. You will learn to: * Awaken your creative spirit * Find joy and fulfillment with a camera * Improve your photography * Express your deepest vision of the world * Learn to be more present in the moment * Deepen your capacity for observation * Gain insight into your self and others * Cultivate mindful seeing * Use your camera as a tool for change * Enhance your visual literacy * And much more You can read this beautiful, richly illustrated book in order, following its inherent structure, or you can dive into the book anywhere that appeals to you, following your own stream of interest. No matter how you read and work through the book--many of the essays contain exercises, working practices, and quotes from well-known photographers--you will learn to deepen your engagement with the world and discover a rich source of creativity within you through the act of taking pictures. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Seek Resonance Camera Practice Avoid the Merely Pictorial Pictures are Not About Pictures Visual Learning First Sight; Beginner's Eye The Camera in Your Hand Seeing from the Body It's All About Hormones Attention and Distraction Keep the French Fries Becoming Good Audience Fitting into the Flow of Time Catch the Wave, Not the Ripple Of Time and Light In Space Finding Your Mojo River of Consciousness Why Selfies? When to Put the Camera Down Mindful Sight Creative Time Minding the Darkness Potency of Metaphor Mapping the Internal Terrain What Helps? Analyzing Your Images Sift, Edit, and Refine Sequencing Experiment Become the Camera Music of the Spheres InSeeing Fifty/Fifty Creative Mind and Not Knowing Trust Your Process Digital Life Steal Like an Artist Art is a Lie that Tells the Truth Use Irony Sparingly Embrace Paradox When to be Tender, When to Snarl, When to Shout, and When to Whisper Sharpness is a Bourgeois Concept Learn to Love the Questions The Wisdom of Chance Awake in the World The Cruel Radiance of What Is Hope and Despair Companions on the Way Coherence and Presence Wholeness and Order Creative Intensity Sea of Images The Power of Art