Creative Photography and the Art of Seeing

Photojournalism pioneer Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) once said, "to photograph is to hold one's breath, when all facilities converge to capture fleeting reality." In his 1952 book, The Decisive Moment, Cartier-Bresson speaks of the need to recognize the convergence of subject and photographer in a single flash of time that will never be repeated.

Cartier-Bresson's work reflected his passionate belief in the power of photography to capture a present moment that would otherwise be forever lost -- that "decisive moment" when photographer and subject meet through the camera lens, and something new emerges.

Pick up almost any magazine dedicated to spirituality, wellness, or even workplace success, and you'll find mention of mindfulness -- the practice of bringing all one's awareness to the present moment. Mindfulness also embraces the Zen concept of "beginner's mind" -- seeing and experiencing without preconceptions, as if for the first time.

The concept of truly seeing the world around us -- not merely looking at it -- has been embraced by artists and writers across the creative spectrum as a key to producing powerful art. Sculptor Frederick Franck's groundbreaking work on Zen in art, Zen of Seeing/Drawing as Meditation, poet Natalie Goldberg's classic Writing Down the Bones, and novelist Ray Bradbury's Zen and the Art of Writing all explore ways to bring mindfulness and beginner's mind to creative endeavors. And carrying Cartier-Bresson's ideas into the present, contemporary photographers Freeman Patterson and Bryan Peterson have made seeing the cornerstone of their popular photography reference books.

Although these ideas probably weren't in vogue during Cartier-Bresson's time, his work clearly demonstrates the effect of focused awareness and fresh seeing in photography -- a practice that can make the difference between an average image and a great one, and create art from the very mundane.

Cartier-Bresson's world of street photography graphically demonstrates the importance of the mindful convergence of all faculties at the snap of the shutter. In this kind of real-time documentary photography, there's usually no time to pose or to compose. With each photograph the process begins anew, with fresh possibilities. But the benefits of seeing with a beginner's eye and a mindful stance aren't limited to the art of the streets.

In all types of photography, seeing the subject without preconceptions invites us to slow down, to be present with the object of our seeing on its own terms. Whether the subject is a poppy flower, a bride on her big day, or a child posing for a studio portrait, taking a fresh look and embracing that single, never repeatable moment in every photograph creates impact, interest, and story.

Mindful seeing also opens new vistas for subject matter, offering new perspectives on the everyday and revealing the unexpected beauty of things often taken for granted or even rejected. Urban landscape or urban dereliction photography, for example, finds art in the abandoned, decaying and broken objects that humans always leave behind.

But no matter the subject, when preconceived notions and rules are abandoned, the photographer steps into the boundless world of seeing where stories emerge, the beauty of the ordinary is revealed -- and art happens.