Photography Is A Religion

flatearther · #1 (**permalink**) 03-14-2008, 11:18 AM

In today's world, religion has a reputation. But what sort of reputation is it? The short answer is that religion has come to represent all that is banal, pretentious and hypocritical. Few will have a bar of it. People will go to a concert to have a good time. If they go to a church at all, it will be to do penance for having a good time. Mention the word at a party and expect to be shunned or mocked. But was it always like this? No. In the ancient times the sacred and the secular were undivorced. Everything was religious. It was simply the practice of realising that the world was a wonderful place. This is what I understand of religion and it is also what I understand of photography. Hence my belief that photography is a religion.

Why take pictures at all? What is the point? Why photograph a tree? There are billions of trees. Do they all need to be photographed? A silly question? We all know why we take photographs! It's because. because...because. Do we really go to all that trouble and expense just to pass away the time? I suspect that all serious photographers would be familiar with that feeling. Why else would we be here if not for the feeling that the thing which we behold is incredibly special - a wonder that we simply must capture forever and share with our friends. It is an incredible thrill. We have discovered something unique and we are compelled to save it. Yet, can we say why it is wonderful? No. We cannot say why something is beautiful, awe inspiring, enigmatic, subtle or mysterious. We cannot say it, but we can feel it. And if we could only get the shutter around it in its own mysterious way, we could then share it with our friends. So are we now talking about just another ordinary everyday experience? No. Far from it.

That is how the religious experience has been described throughout the ages, by all cultures in thousands of ways. But always that it is becoming conscious of the divine. And the divine just is. You either experience it or you do not. How many good photographs have been utterly destroyed by excessive concern for technical perfection? Machines have taken technically perfect landscapes on distant planets and have made them look perfectly ordinary. Useful for the scientist or the engineer, perhaps, but hardly the spiritual experience one would expect from a heavenly body. Only a spiritual being with a soul can take a real photograph.

In other words, we have equipment today that the 19th century pioneers would have given anything to own. But let it rule you and your artistic imprisonment is guaranteed. So then, what is the procedural ritual for the religion of photography? First, the devotee prepares the religious paraphernalia. The cameras, the film, the lenses and the holy tripod. And after an appropriate period of meditation, the aspirant sets out on a journey in the pious hope that a miracle will occur. If the devotee is so blessed, a ritual will be performed with the camera - a form of prayer, an acknowledgment that the miracle has been witnessed. If the supplicant is doubly blessed, some trace of the numinous will be registered on the photographic plate and other devotees will share this holy communion.

There is a Zen art of motorcycle maintenance. There is also a Zen art of photography. As an example, here is an instructive Zen exercise: When you are in the most favourable position to take world- class photographs, leave your camera behind! Carry out all of the motions of worship, but leave no record except in memory, for it is a purely personal experience. Any camera club shipwrecked on a desert island with no equipment whatsoever could still practice their devotions.

Each member would go out to witness, return and describe in all its glory the great photograph they did not take. In the art of Zen Archery, the Zen Master does not take aim. In time, his body becomes attuned to his will. He then wills the arrow to strike its mark and the target is hit repeatedly, without effort - automatically and by reflex. It can also be done with the camera. True, some film is wasted at first, but in time the camera adjustments become as unconscious an act as that of focussing one's eyes. You become the camera and you become one with the miracle.

To try hard is not the way. Trying hard has been the ruin of great art and of great religion. To try often is the way. So what then, is the real point of photography? It is the vision that the devotee experiences. That which ends up on the plate is secondary. Is not one with great visions and a shaky hand far more blessed than one with all the gadgets who is technically perfect and sees none other than the commonplace which has been recorded a thousand times?

The path of true faith is not always bliss. The scoffers will have to be endured. So will the frustration when all seems pointless and in vain. When one seems unable to rise above the banality of the mundane. But then comes that holy moment when it has all been worth the while.

The reward of faith. The world is terrifying and it is also wonderful. The spiritual is not in outer space or in some remote supernatural region. The spiritual is the natural. It is the 'here' and the 'now'. It is 'being aware'. The spiritual is the only real joy to be had. There are many ways to worship. I prefer to do mine with the camera. And all that is left is Heaven and Hell. Heaven is that joy. The super-rich have nothing if they have not this joy. And the only Hell I can imagine is the inability to experience that joy.

wvpeach · #2 (**permalink**) 03-14-2008, 11:29 AM

It is said that animals being unfettered by all our human over thinking are in tune to our creator and worship constantly.

It is said that even the trees sway in praise of the creator, they praise just because the creator thought to bring them into existence.

In all the world it is only mankind, that is out of touch with our creator and that is because we are too absorbed in self.

Well said flat eather. Excellent post.

There is something about a photo that helps the human eye see what we normally miss. The dew dropping off a leaf, the beauty of a spider web in the morning, with the sun shining through it. The look in a dogs eye, the newness of life as a plant pushes through the earth.

I agree photography is a gift from our creator. I don't do it well, but I have done it all my life.

Thank God for Good digital camera's. Its saving me a bundle.

flatearther · #3 (**permalink**) 03-14-2008, 11:40 AM

Thanx for that, mvpeach. I do quite a bit of photo judging around the Sydney camera clubs and it is gratifying to see some of the amazing work that just ordinary good folk produce. It is genuinely inspiring material and I have seen results at international level that are just as pleasing, but not that much better.

The photo surge is now truly on, because we no longer have to slop around in the developer and people who were once held hostage to their photo gear can just go out, get their raw material and then sculpt it on the home pc. As a small inside tip, the only question one need address as an artist is quite simple. "What is the effect I wish to create?" the rest is a formality. My love of folklore also reinforces the notion that we do with cameras what our once cave dwelling ancestors did. We worship nature, and all that is different is the equipment. Blessings and cheers to you & yours. Aho!

Suburbanite · #4 (**permalink**) 03-14-2008, 03:24 PM

i think theists love to make claims like this so that when atheists rightfully point out the abuses caused by religion, christians can accuse atheists of having their own religion

its bullshit fuck this thread ur a twat

flatearther · #5 (**permalink**) 03-14-2008, 07:02 PM

Well, Suburbanite, I can't begin to know how to start thanking you for your kind, perceptive and courteous analysis of a delicate yet lovely subject. I consider myself an expert on human character, and I judge you to be a charming, thoughtful and really, really decent person with high standards and exemplary taste. Don't be a stranger and don't let too much time slide by till we discourse and take flight on the wings of art and intellect again. So lovely of you to be so generous with your valuable time and talent. Cheerio, then!

Suburbanite · #6 (**permalink**) 03-17-2008, 05:39 PM

hahahaha, well put, you're totally my favorite poster here now

Suburbanite · #7 (**permalink**) 03-17-2008, 05:40 PM

oh and im sorry, i admit, i didnt really read past the first few sentences

flatearther · #8 (**permalink**) 03-17-2008, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suburbanite

oh and im sorry, i admit, i didnt really read past the first few sentences

Shit, mate, I'd be bragging & crowing about it. In the 'Administration" in Washington, that'd get you a HUGE salary as an 'expert'. Good on ya. Cheers!

Suburbanite · #9 (**permalink**) 03-17-2008, 10:05 PM

I think i've been found out

WaspRus · #10 (**permalink**) 03-18-2008, 09:11 AM

It saddens me that most people have trouble slowing down. I think there would be a lot less stress and misery if you only slow down smell the coffee and enjoy yourself for about 10 minutes a day whether you are taking pictures, listening to music, or just watching your children play in the yard. God why are some people so stupid. Stupid meaning they know better but just don't do it.