I have been thinking of writing about this topic for some time now, as I reflect on my personal life, where I am going, my photographic vision and what stimulates me to continue in this endeavour.
Photography changes everything, but ….
It is true that photography changes who we are, what we conceive ourselves to be and how we see the world, but I also sure that our being (personality, character, spirituality, etc) influences the way we see and interact with photography.
Photography is for me the means through which I can best comprehend reality and attempt to answer questions that persistently float in my mind about the world. Each frame that I shoot in pursuit of visual understanding ultimately helps to increase my knowledge of myself. Over the years photography has strengthened my sensitivity, increase my attention to details, increased my self confidence and increased my awareness of the universal human connections. So I am really grateful in being part of the photographic world.
For me, photography justifies my wanting to explore and the intruding into foreign realities and in situations where really I do not belong. I occasionally wonder what I am doing in a particular setting and my answer usually lies in my dedication to my photography endeavour which I have arrived to during my life journey.
As I sit down and think about the aspects of my life journey which have had an influence on my photographic vision, I think I can at least identify and the dissect the main aspects as per below:
My life - this includes my life goals, choices and ultimately my being.
My personality - this would include my character and human traits;
My visual experiences and influences - this would include all my stimuli and visual consumption including cinematic experiences, other photographers and the classic arts.
In this presentation, I will only endeavour to write about the first point i.e. how my life choices have influenced my photography. In particular, I wanted to focus on how the catholic spirituality and my celibacy have had an influence on my vision.
Spirituality and Celibacy
While I was scorching the internet to check if anyone had ever written on the subject that I thought would relevant to the photographic community, I stumbled against this article which mentions the term ‘Photographic Celibacy’ (https://colethompsonphotography.com/2018/03/22/photographic-celibacy-thoughts-ten-years-later/).
The idea explored here is very different from what I intend to speak about in this post. The definition by Cole in his blog for Photographic Celibacy is the idea of not looking at the work of other photographers and to develop your own vision as a photographer. And I surely agree that each real photographer, needs a vision and uniqueness. As a wedding photographer I am always adamant that my couples need to fall literally in love my style and photography if they intend to choose me. I cannot simply risk working with people who are not aligned with my photographic vision.
However in this post, I wanted to explore a deeper and more personal level. I wanted to explore how my ‘being’ has influenced my photographic vision and I am sure that being celibate and living the life I am living as a member of the the SDC MUSEUM society has radically influenced me.
An attitude of openess
I realise, more then ever before, that I have a keen interest in the lives, the stories and experiences of other people. I feel that this interest is very much fuelled by my genuine concern in helping people and trying to be of service for them. This very intrinsic characteristic of my personality, has been borne in me though my way of understanding life and knowing that the more one gives, the more one receives… ‘Give, and it shall be given unto you’. (Lk 6:38) For this reason I think I feel naturally inclined and fascinated by the theme of street photography which has always driven my photographic vision as it deals with the everday lives of other ordinary people.
On the other hand, due to my lifestyle which is composed of my professional work, voluntary work and also wedding photography work… I realise that I do not have the luxury to sit down with strangers and mingle in chit chat. Therefore while I have a natural curiosity for the unknown, with always a keen interest in learning new things, new ideas and exploring new places, I do have limited time with a tight schedule. Photography has managed to bridge this need of getting entangled with other people while giving purpose to the encounter by means of capturing memories and being of service to other people in their special moments.
There are those (like the former priest which is described in this post by Ron Rolheiser) which are of the idea that creativity is hindered by celibacy. I do not accord with this stance, at least not for photographic domain. For me it is a way of opening to more people and more stories, in a way that I am not too obsessed with my own life story. Celibacy is an act of love, which has the aim to open us and not to close us to ourselves. Infact Thomas Aquinas defines celibacy as a vacancy for God. However this gift is not something for the few, but all human persons are called to be a little bit a celibate in the sense that they are called to be in touch with their spiritual dimension.
Sensing the the unseen
For me both photography and more specifically weddings and elopements signify the real love between two persons… a deep spiritual act. The act of giving own self (agape) to another is a spiritual act which carries with it deep significance and commitment. I feel that through my photography I can sense this deep connection, where I actually feel part of it and make it my own. This is the manner in which I review also other photographers work by asking myself a simple question… do the images convey any spiritual connection between the couple? Do the images have any sense of intimacy, deep connection and ‘soul’ feeling?
In his book the New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton defines contemplation as ‘the highest expression of man's intellectual and spiritual life.’ Thomas Merton goes on to say that ‘Poetry, music and art have something in common with the contemplative experience. But contemplation is beyond aesthetic intuition, beyond art, beyond poetry.’ Photography is therefore only a door to contemplation, however when done with love and intent, it can lead to the discovery of the unknown.
Awakened to the now
Finally, I believe that a spiritual person should also be capable of living in the now. He is able to live in the current moment and be engulfed in the present. He is able to see the beauty around him and also be able to take actions to improve the world, by being an active agent. Seeing beauty and being aware of his surroundings is an integral part of the photographers work. Through the use of light, geometries, reflections, shadows, depth of field, patterns, silhouettes and symmetry, the photographer is called to create images which are eternal and stand the test of time. The photographer has the urgency to live in the moment of when the images are being taken, if he is to take any meaningful and soulful images. He is called to use his God given talent to co-create beauty - the same beauty which all the hearts of men are attracted to and in which God is to be found.