Sunday, January 13, 2008

Miksang Photography

As you may know I have been working as the instructing assistant to a middle school art teacher this year. Last semester, we had a unit about Miksang Photography.


"A traditional art form has been greatly facilitated by the advent of the digital camera. The art of Miksang was begun as a meditational tool by Shambhala Buddhists, but it has implications for painters and other creative people.The idea is to find joy and awareness by attending to the minor and seemingly insignificant--the colours, patterns and textures that exist in the close-up world. Miksang is a Tibetan word that means "good eye." Shambhalas think widespread use might lead to more compassionate and enlightened societies. " ~Robert Genn



One of the rules of Miksang is you don't set up the scene. You take it as you find it. For more info visit http://clicks.robertgenn.com/miksang.php .






These are some of the photos I took. I have definitely seen better miksang photos, but these are some of the better photos I have taken.

Or at least they are some of my more interesting ones.


And there was a totally peaceful feeling in the air as I took them, not just for me, all of the students became seriously calm and peaceful as they walked around the park with their cameras. Not only when we took the pictures, but they were givien an assignment to put their miksang photos into a power point presentation. They loved it. Not only making them. but watching each others. It's funny to me because I don't consider myself artistic in any way, or earthy. But this is something I would do in my spare time for relaxation.





4 comments:

Holley said...

Those are great pictures. What a wonderful idea to go out into the world and try to find some joy through your viewfinder. I think we all get so busy in life that we forget to slow down and just look around at the amazing things that surround us every day. I think I'll give that a try some Saturday afternoon. It probably really helps you to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, something I need to work on.

Meg said...

you are really talented Julie!

Jeanna said...

That is cool. I recognize these pics and am so glad for the explanation behind them. I dream about being able to take great photos, maybe I'll try this Miksang myself someday when I need a breather from life.

Kim said...

It's good to finally see your pictures that you told me about a while ago. They're even better than I expected!