Photo Friday: Your True Lens
In Last week‘s Photo Friday blog post I talked about photography as a contemplative practice. Christina Greve is a photographer, life coach, and blogger from Denmark who I find quite inspiring. She said in a past post,
“Your heart and mind are the true lens of your camera.”
I could not agree more. I suppose this is why I’m fascinated by the idea of photography as contemplation or a spiritual practice. But, what do I believe this means? What does it mean that my heart and mind are the true lens of my camera? To me, it means that I am drawn to certain things when looking through my view finder. The camera settings and composition that I choose are a part of my interpretation of the subject that I am looking at. I need to think.
- What is it I’m capturing and why?
- What emotion or thought am I trying to capture and convey to the viewers of the image?
Photography is more than technical skill, it is also art and communication both with others and with ourselves.
Below is an image I captured in a local parking lot.
When capturing this image, I was struck by both the purpose of the truck, to rescue stranded or broken-down vehicles, and the presence of the cross bar which reminded me of my faith. Jesus came to rescue stranded and broken-down humans. I found the juxtaposition of the two thoughtful and inspirational.
- Is there a time you saw or created an image that made you stop and think?
- What was it about the image that made you stop?
- What were you thinking about?
- Do you feel every image that a photographer captures is a product of their “true lens” or do you feel that the use of a “true lens” only comes through contemplation of the subject?
- Do you think every photographer should aspire to use their “true lens”?
Share below in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
