Saturday, November 12, 2022

Seeing without Looking

I've noticed lately that my eyes have been doing most of the heavy lifting in the discovery of new photographs.  While that might seem reasonable or even expected I'd estimate it only accounts for half of my best images over the last 25 years.

Beyond looking for photographs visually, I frequently find them by following my feelings.  This involves a contradictory sounding process I think of as seeing without looking.  While I came upon the practice naturally, I found my way to a better understanding of it through the writings of photographer Mark Citret and the Taoist teachings of Lao Tzu.

Mark writes, "there is something irrevocably illogical about searching for something by 'not looking' for it. But experience has taught me that when I allow myself to drift in 'autopilot,' divorced from all my preferences, expectations, and judgments, my eye will eventually settle on some familiar scene, never quite seen before."

Students of Taoism will quickly recognize the idea of "effortless or actionless action." It's often referenced in Eastern Philosophy as the Paradox of Wu Wei or the mental state of Wu Xin and there are all manner of practitioners in sports, arts, politics, and everyday life.

My typical approach is to explore a place as calmly and openly as possible while paying close attention to my feelings as I move through the space.  When I'm inspired by something, even if (or maybe especially if) I can't put my finger on why, then I know it's time to get out a camera and start looking around.  In my large format days this meant spending time under the dark cloth panning the camera around until I settled on a composition that felt right.  These days it means exploring through the EVF of one of my Fujifilm bodies but the idea is the same.

I frequently find that the images I create in this way have far greater meaning and deeper connections than I recognize at the time of exposure.  Through talking with the photographer Paula Chamlee I came to think of these photographs as manifestations of that which I am unable to express any other way.  I believe most artists working sincerely experience something similar; even Edward Weston mused in his daybooks that "my work is always a few jumps ahead of what I write about it."

So it is my intention to get back to this way of seeing without looking more often. If experience is any indication it might take some time for me to recognize the deeper connections I uncover but it will surely be worth the effort or, non-effort.