Photography as Meditation

For many non-professionals, photography is a way to relax. Furthermore, by taking a walk in the country and turning what you see and feel into pictures, you are engaging in a process that has much more to do with meditation than you might think.

In this book, Torsten Andreas Hoffmann treads new ground by applying the tenets of Japanese Zen philosophy to artistic photography, and shows how a meditative approach can help you find the source of true inspiration.

Meditation and photography are both centered on the here and now, both demand a high degree of concentration, and both work best if you are free of all extraneous and disruptive thoughts. Hoffmann bases his approach on his own atmospheric images of landscapes, cities, people, and nature, while his astute analysis and instructive text introduces a new way of seeing without losing sight of the rules of composition or solid photographic technique.

He stresses the importance of allowing your intuition to take precedence over technical prowess when it comes to truly creative activity. The overarching aim of the book is to help you find your own unique visual style while retaining a critical eye for your work.

The revised 2nd edition includes many new sample images as well as new chapters on meditative landscape photography and photographing “lost places”.