Fine Art Photography vs. "Contemplative Photography": What's the Difference?

The concept of "fine art photography" isn't as terribly radical a notion as it once might have been. Most art associations -- including the New Hampshire art Association -- accept photographers as juried members. Also, it's becoming less and less common for show organizers to state "absolutely no photography will be considered" on show prospectuses. Furthermore, buyers are finding that it can be affordable to purchase photography. (This "low cost of entry" also allows them to "test the waters" before deciding to become a serious collector of fine art photographic images.)

The "Articles" section of my web site contains numerous articles on fine art photography and becoming a fine art photographer. However, this is the first essay I've written which attempts to address "contemplative photography." While there is some degree of overlap between the two practices, not all fine art photographers practice contemplative photography. Similarly, not all practitioners of contemplative photography (or miksang, for that matter) are fine artists.

This image appears within the "Color" user gallery at seeingfresh.com

Contemplative photography is not measured by the standard criteria of what constitutes "fine art" (such as maturity of vision, color, composition, execution, consistency of work.) Rather, contemplative is distinguished by the intent of the photographer at blurring the dualities between photographer and subject, and between image and viewer. Most of the literature out there on contemplative photography focuses its attention on what the artist brings to the process of making the images. (I recoil at using the term "most of the literature out there." because up until a few years ago, it was difficult to find anything on the subject.) However, I break from the pack by believing the principles of contemplative photography don't end once the exposure is made: instead, I think that they apply equally to the acts of editing and curating images, as well as making later derivative works from the original shots.

Through traditional art, artists use various media to communicate their vision and response to the world around them. The artist's personal vision can range from outrage and advocacy through peace and serenity. However, there's always a "me" or "I' or "my" in the equation. Moreover, the viewer observes the artwork through the artist's eyes (even though certainly we all bring our own background and experiences to the action of perceiving.) Contemplative photography, on the other hand, is primarily a meditative practice, rather than an expression of self/ego.

In contemplative photography, the photographer works at directly experiencing reality without the "self" filter complicating matters. The resultant photo just happens to be an artifact of those efforts. (If the photo happens to help the viewer achieve a similar state, then so mach the better.) For this reason, comtemplative photographs are often distinguishable by their directness and immediacy.

So what happens when a fine arts photographer takes up the practice of contemplative photography? That differs for each person, but my experience has been that being an artist influences my subject choice and the way I compose pictures. But my meditative practice, once a potential subject has been identified and framed, is no different than that of a non-artist. I do think that I'm tougher on myself than are non-artist practitioners. I look at the resultant photos with an overly-critical eye and discard "successful" contemplative images simply because they don't meet the traditional standards of "art." While I try to convince myself that some of the most successful feng shui'ed rooms are pretty ugly, I still keep hitting the "delete" key.

_______________________________________________________________

Some of the contemplative images which passed my ruthless editing process can be found at the Gallery section of my web site and here:

The Backyard Challenge (Paying Attention to What Surrounds You Everyday)

I recently met a photographer who shared with me an intriguing anecdote about a colleague who created a series of photographs shot entirely in his yard. This AM, I attempted something similar, limiting myself only to the grounds of the apartment complex. Below are some representative images:















(This last one's a detail shot of a mushroom.)

I encourage you to get out and capture images of the wonders in YOUR own backyard.

SeeingFresh, Week 5: Space

This week's assignment, say the instructors at www.seeingfresh.com, is to shift your intention from seeing forms in space to seeing visual space itself.

Here are the three images I submitted for consideration:

---

UPDATE 7/3/11: The center image was selected for the "texture" gallery,while the other two images seem to have been declined for the any of the five galleries. The question at this point becomes: do I treat the educators as commercial clients and serve up what they seem to want (photos that seem to evoke a vast, psychological space) even though the tighter interplay of positive and negative space evident in the declined photos really seems to have met the scope of the assignment as they wrote it? Is it that I just didn't submit an image that was similar enough to one that the instructors themselves would have taken?

At this point, I think I need need to take a few days to toss around my ideas about rejection, even though as a juried artist, I'm pretty much toughened up about the jurying process. Due to the nature of this particular type of artwork, I should also consider how my ego could be my biggest roadblock. I also want to consider the amount of "authority" I wish to give the instructors when my heart tells me I did the assignment "right." I also want to look at the idea of respect: did I properly honor the instructors when my opinion of them seems to vacillate with how much they like my work (and how much I like theirs)?

SeeingFresh,Week 4: Light

Here's what I'm thinking of submitting in a few days for the "Light" assignment at www.seeingfresh.com. The purpose of the assignment is to " see patterns of light—not [just] things that are illuminated, or shadows cast by objects that block the light." (While one of the photos does include a shadow, the real "subject" of the photo is the light as it is reflected off the wall and statue.)

---

UPDATE: Again,only two photos were selected. I am guessing that the hand pic was not accepted because it was not sublime enough and should have paid more attention to the pattern of light, rather than to the pattern of non-light/shadow.

SeeingFresh, Week 3: Simplicity

According to the instructors at the seeingfresh.com Contemplative Photography web site, the purpose of Assignment 3 ("Simplicity") is to explore
"where the experience of the form is heightened because of the space around it."

I've been rummaging through my photo archives and here are the three images I'm considering submitting this coming week:

---

UPDATE: The red vehicle closeup was recategorized as an example of the "Color" assignment (where I think it works well.)

The horse closeup was accepted as part of the "Simplicity" assignment for which it was submitted.

The leaf closeup was declined. While I still think it met the parameters of the assignment as written up on the web site, I do think it lacks the Zen simplicity that other, accepted photos exhibited.

SeeingFresh, Week 2: Texture

The following images are my "homework" for the "Texture" assignment at the Contemplative Photography web site SeeingFresh.com. I'll be doing all five projects, with the purpose of better "putting eye, heart, and mind to work together" and further my use of photography as a meditative technique.

The purpose of the assignment is for the photographer to feel visual texture, in order to "connect deeply with form". The resultant photographs are artifacts of that direct experience.

Here's what I intend to submit tomorrow:








Again, I'll let you know which images, if any, the teachers post. I'll also critique any works which weren't accepted.

__________________________________________________________

UPDATE: All three images were accepted (!) and can be viewed at http://www.seeingfresh.com/assignment-galleries/texture

SeeingFresh, Week 1: Color

I'm finding myself drawn back to Contemplative Photography or Miksang ("good eye"). (Perhaps because my meditation practice has been sluggish recently.) I first self-studied Miksang through "osmosis" in the summer of 2008, while volunteering at Karme Choling in Barnet, VT.

The excellent site www.seeingfresh.com has guidelines for teaching yourself Contemplative Photography. It emphasizes five concepts: color, texture, simplicity, light, and space.

My goal is to complete one lesson per week, both by shooting new images and by sifting though my photo archives for pix that meet each lesson's criteria. I will be uploading three photos per week to the SeeingFresh.com site, corresponding to each assignment.

The first week's assignment was "Color" and how it "has no meaning, apart from what thinking-mind superimposes on it."

Here's what I came up with:









After the files were submitted, the Contemplative Photography teachers will be reviewing them for compliance with the assignment and perhaps posting them to their site.

Stay tuned....

_______________________________________________________________-

UPDATE:

The second and third image were selected for posting to the site.

I got no feedback about the image which was not posted, but I thought hard about what could be improved for future submissions. The photo has interesting texture and composition and is "correct" within a traditional, technical context. However, it doesn't work as well within a contemplative photography context because it's hard to separate plants from their "greenness." In fact, while shooting the image, I thought, "Here's an interesting green plant," not "Wow! Green!"

Next week's assignment is texture, and I'll push harder to select images where my first instinct is "Wow! Texture!"