In the first post I used "in the zone" a few times, it works for me and insofar I have seen it used elsewhere, works for others too. I considered working "zone" into the title but then it began to sound similar to certain other web sites/blogs. I considered using "flow" as in "creative flow" , it gives a dynamic edge but wondered how instantly meaningful it would be to those not close to the subject. By instantly meaningful I understand that most webusers behaviour when landing unexpectedly on a webpage is to hang around only for about five seconds before deciding whether it might be of interest or not and clicking the mouse. It is likely that you have landed on this page via my posts on Google+ which contains a fast growing band of photographers and visual artists, or you may have arrived by happenstance, either way, welcome and stay awhile.
So the title as well as the whole blog, like photography and the visual arts, like life itself, is a work in progress and thus subject to flux and change, but one that is hopefully governed by purpose. The blog will and continue to be, as long as I have the motivation, inspiration, perspiration and sense of purpose reinforced by you, as reader, commentator, contributor, and /or critic, with momentum and energy maintained as a kind of virtuous cycle until some future point when .................? (I have to get the uncertainty principle in somewhere).
This is a convenient lead into the creative process, as some of the elements, insofar as I curently understand them have been mentioned; motivation, inspiration, sense of purpose, energy, endurance(perspiration), feedback, coupled with a sense of creative uncertainty are all involved with the creative process. Whether we are seeking to take our photography beyond the level of snapshot or to move beyond our existing capability to the next level or as with any other form of creative endeavour (even writing a blog) we need these elements to be in place to some degree.
The Mindful Photographer describes a wider conceptual framework than say The Creative Photographer though the latter might be more readily recognisable. Mindful comes from the concept of Mindfulness. Wikipedia(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness_(psychology)) provides several overlapping definitions of mindfulness of which two seem to be particularly relevant to photography.
An example. I like to walk ocassionally purely for the purpose of exercise. I have a few routes around the local neighbourhood. The goal is simply to get from point A to point B in a given amount of time. I do not usually take a camera with me, it would only get in the way, my "photo-mind" is entirely switched off. My attention insofar as it is in the present will focus perhaps on my breathing, my stride length, any aches and pains that might slow me down (at my age there are usually a few), I see in front of me simply to avoid obstacles and traffic, but always the goal of reaching point B is in mind.
The next day I may take a similar route with my camera. My "photo-mind" , hopefully, like my camera, is switched on. My intention, attention, my consciousness, what I see of my surroundings, is entirely different. It is more, in the moment, here and now. I intentionally see potential subjects about me, in the form of light, shade, colour, form, composition, movement, etc. Hence my liking of the second definition - "paying attention in a particular way; on purpose ........". with our camera, to our seeing eye, we begin creating, "... in the present moment". Hopefully I press the shutter in the "Decisive Moment" as Henri Cartier-Bresson would say.as all the elements that make a composition come together as a whole in the minds eye.
We have different streams of consciousness to match our varying life situations. Imagine being a commuter, or having to rush to the airport. With "photo-mind" consciousness entirely switched on we might take some fine images, but we would be very late in reaching our destination, or not even make it at all. Although we might have those fine images, that might not impress our boss or client. Not very practical.
However the main purpose of this blog is look at our "photo-mind" consciousness, either to enhance our levels of mindfulness or to gain insight into the blocks to our creative processes as they occur. We may regard the state of mindfulness as a vessel, like the banks of a river, that allows the creative processes to flow in a directed and purposeful manner. The wider the banks, the deeper the river bed, the less obstacles lying in the way, the greater the flow.
I am not exceptional in probably spending more than 99% of my waking life in doing mode. We all do it. This is the world, of business, to do lists, the diary, the ipad, of travelling into the future in our minds to the next event on our agenda. This is also the world of the past, perhaps past regrets, failures, of "if only" (I had taken a different direction in life, etc), it is a world full of concepts and beliefs, often critical, about ourselves, about others, about the world we perceive and inhabit.
If we could only stop, slow down, take time out perhaps only for minutes in any given day, and begin to see in the present moment, to experience what is, rather than to preconceive and to judge, we can begin to make room in our busy world for our creative potential to grow. To allow "photo-mind" space to simply be. and in the process become better photographers, better artists. It is the difference between doing and being. We all have a need to live in and experience the present. That, of itself, is motivation to continue our process as photographers and artists.
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