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eileen_critchley's review
3.0
This is the second book we have ready for my Photography Book Club on Facebook.
There was much I liked about this book, and I really loved many of the photos. He has many great ideas, and I liked the exercise ideas. He lost me with some (most) of the Zen discussion and this book became tedious at times (often). Many of the concepts I have read about or had brought up in other platforms before. Still, if you are interested in the merging of photography, mindfulness, Zen meditation and so on, it could be a good book for you. I'm not sure I appreciated it as much as I should have, and I don't think I will keep it for reference or inspiration.
Exercises of interest to me:
Daily record/observation- I wish I could make time for this daily (shooting daily "sketch" images of my day and things I come across) but it's not realistic for me at this time. However, down the road maybe it will be an option, or an occasional thing to try. Daily shooting is definitely beneficial, there is no question in my mind of that. But I get burnt out with it.
Go somewhere new with a camera (I do this as often as possible)
Observe light intentionally
Selfless self portrait
Photograph something you love and something you hate
Take 50 + images of the same subject (I definitely think this would be beneficial in pushing yourself to look at things in new ways)
Meditate (I know, I know)- I know I need to make this a daily practice.. also yoga..
In the manner of - emulate another photographer's work (make it your own)
Study others' bodies of work
Create a body of work- I think we are all constantly doing this. If you put together a set of 100+ images and pull out 15-20 is that really representative of where you are though? Putting together a body of work that tells a narrative or an in depth exploration of a subject is another part of this.
Experiment with drawing/journalling
Many of my book club participants struggled with this book, one compared it to graduate level reading. It wasn't always easy to pick it up and read it. It's not exactly something I looked forward to reading, and we rushed through the last few chapters to get it done. That said, it has some good ideas and if you make time for the exercises and are dedicated to doing them, I can definitely see the benefit.
There was much I liked about this book, and I really loved many of the photos. He has many great ideas, and I liked the exercise ideas. He lost me with some (most) of the Zen discussion and this book became tedious at times (often). Many of the concepts I have read about or had brought up in other platforms before. Still, if you are interested in the merging of photography, mindfulness, Zen meditation and so on, it could be a good book for you. I'm not sure I appreciated it as much as I should have, and I don't think I will keep it for reference or inspiration.
Exercises of interest to me:
Daily record/observation- I wish I could make time for this daily (shooting daily "sketch" images of my day and things I come across) but it's not realistic for me at this time. However, down the road maybe it will be an option, or an occasional thing to try. Daily shooting is definitely beneficial, there is no question in my mind of that. But I get burnt out with it.
Go somewhere new with a camera (I do this as often as possible)
Observe light intentionally
Selfless self portrait
Photograph something you love and something you hate
Take 50 + images of the same subject (I definitely think this would be beneficial in pushing yourself to look at things in new ways)
Meditate (I know, I know)- I know I need to make this a daily practice.. also yoga..
In the manner of - emulate another photographer's work (make it your own)
Study others' bodies of work
Create a body of work- I think we are all constantly doing this. If you put together a set of 100+ images and pull out 15-20 is that really representative of where you are though? Putting together a body of work that tells a narrative or an in depth exploration of a subject is another part of this.
Experiment with drawing/journalling
Many of my book club participants struggled with this book, one compared it to graduate level reading. It wasn't always easy to pick it up and read it. It's not exactly something I looked forward to reading, and we rushed through the last few chapters to get it done. That said, it has some good ideas and if you make time for the exercises and are dedicated to doing them, I can definitely see the benefit.
spaceisavacuum's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
David Ulrich is an accomplished photographer and zen buddhist student, who resides in Hawai’i and from a young age lost vision in one eye. His images are striking, but almost even more striking than his medium of art- is his very insightful advice… not only about creating visual art, but also about how to see the world…
He talks about neuro-plasticity often. And how different mediums of art expand our awareness in one thing or another. For example, I recently took a personality test to see what my strengths were, but more important, my biggest weakness, at a whopping 27% percent, is in visual/spatial awareness. (And a lousy 6% in relationship EQ.) He conjectures near the end that today’s youth have excellent visual and spacial awareness, because the majority of their time is spent on screens, and developing fine motor skills through games. However, Ulrich does worry that, “As people accept the dumbing down and the erosion of their attention spans, what effects will he carried by conditioning and genetics to future generations?”
Most of the book is topical about improving your visualization, in life and art, in Zen context. Featuring rather corny exercises occasionally, while some are rather entertaining. But the most meaningful chapter was this last, where he also writes this which strikes homeplate with me:
“The ego keeps us enslaved by having us believe that surface, material reality is the whole truth, especially about ourselves. When only skimming the surface of our lives, dominated by superficial likes and dislikes, we can be said to be living only within a very small part of self and its possibilities.” I say, go be eclectic! And be silly! Inspire, and don’t be afraid, and don’t be a harsh critic! Open your mind to every possibility. Great insight.
He talks about neuro-plasticity often. And how different mediums of art expand our awareness in one thing or another. For example, I recently took a personality test to see what my strengths were, but more important, my biggest weakness, at a whopping 27% percent, is in visual/spatial awareness. (And a lousy 6% in relationship EQ.) He conjectures near the end that today’s youth have excellent visual and spacial awareness, because the majority of their time is spent on screens, and developing fine motor skills through games. However, Ulrich does worry that, “As people accept the dumbing down and the erosion of their attention spans, what effects will he carried by conditioning and genetics to future generations?”
Most of the book is topical about improving your visualization, in life and art, in Zen context. Featuring rather corny exercises occasionally, while some are rather entertaining. But the most meaningful chapter was this last, where he also writes this which strikes homeplate with me:
“The ego keeps us enslaved by having us believe that surface, material reality is the whole truth, especially about ourselves. When only skimming the surface of our lives, dominated by superficial likes and dislikes, we can be said to be living only within a very small part of self and its possibilities.” I say, go be eclectic! And be silly! Inspire, and don’t be afraid, and don’t be a harsh critic! Open your mind to every possibility. Great insight.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review against another edition
4.0
I'm fascinated with both Zen and photography. This is the perfect book for me.
I'm not an expert on either, and Ulrich doesn't claim to be a Zen master, but he knows a lot about Zen and photography. He offers a series of six lessons to practice photography from a Zen perspective. They all center on approaching photography with a beginner's mind.
I took away from this book many helpful ideas. He encourages photographers to take a lot of photos and to keep them all. He suggests copying the style of an admired photographer. He offers up the idea of cropping and editing the same photo many different ways. He urges us to try to start a self-defined project.
If this sounds like a book for you, it probably is.
I'm not an expert on either, and Ulrich doesn't claim to be a Zen master, but he knows a lot about Zen and photography. He offers a series of six lessons to practice photography from a Zen perspective. They all center on approaching photography with a beginner's mind.
I took away from this book many helpful ideas. He encourages photographers to take a lot of photos and to keep them all. He suggests copying the style of an admired photographer. He offers up the idea of cropping and editing the same photo many different ways. He urges us to try to start a self-defined project.
If this sounds like a book for you, it probably is.
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