For me, an unexpected benefit of my photography is mindfulness. Whilst I hadn’t initially recognised it as this, I found that whenever I was photographing I became absorbed in it - my thoughts and focus were solely on what was happening around and in front of me in that moment of time.
As a freelance photographer, much of my work is for a set purpose/brief. Having recently had a discussion about the importance of setting aside time for development, training and creativity I decided to be, well, creative about how to do that and took myself off into the outdoors, with my camera. I had no set brief, no expectations and the chance to explore and photograph anything I wanted. It was also one of the hottest days so I had the added luxury of good weather. It was brilliant! I went into the parkland at Lyme Park and headed for the woods where the midday light was a mix of shadows and pockets of light dispersed into patterns and more irregular shapes. I pretty much followed the light and how it fell onto different objects, largely plants and foliage. It was quite free’ing being able to photograph anything I was drawn to and an opportunity to be completely mindful. I was fully aware of everything around me, not thinking about the past or the future (or what I was having for my tea). I had chance to think about and test out different techniques and styles in constantly changing light.
In the past I’ve often thought I needed to be sitting somewhere, with my eyes closed, to be truly ‘mindful’ which of course isn’t true. You can be mindful in the most seemingly mindless tasks like brushing your teeth, or turning on the tap, or moving about. Anything where you are completely present in what you’re doing and paying attention to/noting what you’re doing without getting lost in anything other than that moment in time.
I’ve realised how important it is for my creativity to get out with my camera and just photograph what interests me without any restrictions, whilst also benefiting from being mindful. I’m hopefully going to start running some mindfulness in photography sessions, outdoors, towards the end of summer into early autumn. Let me know if this is something you’d be interested in joining.