New (to me) way to look at the world: Miksang

My old boss was a friend of Trungpa Rinpoche, had a photo of the man holding what appeared to be a Seagull folding camera, and said he was a good photographer. I guess the man had a fondness for drink, and an eye for the ladies too.
 
ptpdprinter said:
Miksang is the trademarked name for an approach to photography based on Buddhist mindfulness technique. None of its proponents is going to be having a show at the MOMA anytime soon, but then neither are you. If you think Buddhism mindfulness technique is "pseudo-intellectual", "pseudo-spiritual", or just plain "hooey", then you are certainly under no obligation to sign up for a workshop. If you are curious, but don't want to spring for the workshop, there are a number of Miksang photography books authored by the instructors who are listed on the Miksang website available on Amazon which you can order and return if you don't find them interesting or helpful. I encourage anything which gives you a framework to think about your photographs.
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The proper framework to think about photography, or any other kind of art, is your own culture. This is marketed to westerners, who are generally not Buddhist; and they're not teaching you the Buddhist faith. Its like going to China and telling people that they'll be better photographers if they envisioned Jesus on the cross while photographing, without teaching them anything else about Christianity.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
The proper framework to think about photography, or any other kind of art, is your own culture. This is marketed to westerners, who are generally not Buddhist; and they're not teaching you the Buddhist faith. Its like going to China and telling people that they'll be better photographers if they envisioned Jesus on the cross while photographing, without teaching them anything else about Christianity.
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Not really, but if you think the comparison is apt, I won't try to convince you otherwise.

I think your photographs of all those dilapidated buildings show a great sense of serenity. I mean that as a compliment. You may already have this mindfulness thing down and just not know it.

Maybe I'll get one of those books and treat it as a monthly shooting assignment. Maybe do something different. Maybe learn something.

I was just thinking that quite a number of Edward Weston's photographs look Miksang to me. He's a pretty good photographer. He has even had shows at the MOMA.
 
If you want to spend your money on something and it doesn’t hurt anyone and it makes you happy…go for it.

That being said, and of course this is my opinion, the OP’s quote from the organization (describing the approach to their process) is just word salad and doesn’t mean much to me.

Art is in your heart and takes practice and inspiration. If these courses inspire you, I see no harm in that. But, yeah, it doesn’t seem like something I would enjoy.
 
the_jim said:
IThat being said, and of course this is my opinion, the OP’s quote from the organization (describing the approach to their process) is just word salad and doesn’t mean much to me.

Art is in your heart and takes practice and inspiration. If these courses inspire you, I see no harm in that. But, yeah, it doesn’t seem like something I would enjoy.
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Well, that "art is in you heart" stuff sounds pretty word salady to me.
 
Folks, this is just an approach to have in mind when you walk around with a camera around your neck, not a statement of principle. I admit... to me, it was pretty new, even though I had some inkling about it because very often my boring shots reflect what I think the image tells me, or what I think the image says. In the end, as I wrote above, I just want to see how things look in a photograph.

BTW, during my brief sting using a 6x6 Mamiya C220 TLR, I was lost as to how to compose in a square until I started thinking about my photographs as future CD covers. That made it a lot easier to think about how to frame any given subject. I know... it's ambitious but there's more than one way to skin a... <gulp>cat?</gulp>...
 
rulnacco said:
Don't people just take photos to see what something looks like as a photograph?
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Some people do. That was Gary Winogand's guiding principal. It is not something I subscribe to. For color, I can see what I am going to get in the viewfinder. For black and white, I previsualize. Sometimes I get it right.
 
A few more thoughts on all this.Unaccustomed as I am to brevity, I will try to be brief...

The OP appears to be trying to find himself through photography. This is a noble goal, and I for one encourage him to do so by whatever means he wants to pursue. To me, however, New Age yap yap presented as Buddhist mindfulness is not my way - it may suit him, in which case well and good. But not for me Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

I have been a lifelong student of Buddhism, Confucianism, Tao and other Asian philosophical faiths. I have to say I found little that is new in this site - quoting Buddhist gurus and personages is far from living and applying the philosophy in one's own life.

The quest for self-realisation is, I believe, has to be lived on one's own, without the need for preaching, 21st century pop philosophies or seminars. A personal example here. This year I've returned to my extensive archive of film images, and scanning the best of my work from the 1960s to date. I work backwards and am now doing 2006, a year I took off from my architectural practice (at great financial cost, but the freedom was all-encompassing) to explore Southeast Asia with a backpack, a Contax G1 and three lenses. From my scans, I'm discovering so many interesting notions - how many faults there were in my image-making at the time (initially annoying, now no longer a concern to me); how much I tended to photograph the same things, a notion I've explored over the last almost 16 years and am only now, in my 70s, starting to work out what motivated me to seek out and record images of these things; and how much the passing of time has changed me and my thinking, as well as my life.

A poster mentioned 'Tao Of Photography', - the Tom Andg book?? I have it in my library and while I initially found it somewhat too gear-entered for my taste, I do reread it every now and then. It more so than almost every other book (excepting the writing of Henri Cartier-Bresson, which may be opening yet another can of worms so I will say no more) has influenced my way of looking at my life, my world and the world in general, by way of my photography.

As much as I would like to relive that long ago experience of being free and easy, wandering to and fro at will and doing what I now realise I enjoy best in life, just moseying around and photographing the things I see, I'm now 16 years older, and those days are well and truly past for me. This more so than anything else in that time, has registered with me. I am still learning much about myself. I hope to do so for a good long while yet...

Okay. As a celebrated cartoon rabbit said, that's all, folks. As for brevity, well, ha!!

One other thing...

ptpdprinter said:
Miksang is the trademarked name for an approach to photography based on Buddhist mindfulness technique. ... there are a number of Miksang photography books authored by the instructors who are listed on the Miksang website available on Amazon which you can order and return if you don't find them interesting or helpful.
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Gautama had some things to say about the 'commercialisation' of religion. This post, with all due respect, confirms that to me.
 
A thought I had after posting my last opus. Brief, this time.

I rather think we have been quite harsh on the OP.

Best we agree that whatever suits him is best for him. And we wish him the best with his ancient Mamiya. Me, I'll stay with my Nikon D800, but then I'm not trying to emulate Minor White. To be a quarter as good as Tom Ang (see my previous post) is good enough for me.

However, if his intended goal was to post a bit of advertorial/promotional copy, he seems to have failed rather dismally.

Miksang, Milkshake...
 
JohnWolf said:
Mike, they credit Chogyam Trungpa for the inspiration behind this method, and there is a section of quotes from him on the Miksang site.

An NYT article about him and his successors: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/n...isconduct.html

Forgot about the paywall. Here's another: https://thewalrus.ca/survivors-of-an-international-buddhist-cult-share-their-stories/

John
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thanks John, interesting.

I have an NYT subscription - even as a UK citizen and resident it’s well worth reading papers from other countries for a wider perspective.

The opening picture, ‘… a throne reserved for him…’ sets my alarm bells ringing. We’ve seen these outcomes in every situation where power and authority are vested in one or a few men.

Appreciate the insight and the links.
 
I like threads with reference to different way to intend and practice photography. I oft find them interesting. But in this case with Miksang I miss something. Perhaps being english not my native language there are "nuances" I do not fully understand in the proposed links. . Or because I'm not on FB I cannot see most of the images proposed in the link. Anyway I'll follow the thread and perhaps later I'll add more comments.
 
It's good to be exposed to other approaches to creative expression. The notion that the only proper reference for art is one's own culture is malarkey. Art the world over has been enriched by cross-cultural exchange.

HCB himself said one of the greatest influences on his life and work was the book "Zen in the Art of Archery," which he called the only manual any photographer needs. The book, BTW, is pure Miksang.

And there are photographers like Michael Kenna and Minor White, as well as many great American poets and writers and painters, whose work is infused with the sensibility of other cultures. Certainly those of us who shoot street photography are deeply indebted to the French.

John


robert blu said:
I like threads with reference to different way to intend and practice photography. I oft find them interesting. But in this case with Miksang I miss something. Perhaps being english not my native language there are "nuances" I do not fully understand in the proposed links. . Or because I'm not on FB I cannot see most of the images proposed in the link. Anyway I'll follow the thread and perhaps later I'll add more comments.
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ozmoose said:
A thought I had after posting my last opus. Brief, this time.

I rather think we have been quite harsh on the OP.
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Agree. I have nothing to gain with this stuff about Miksang. The reason I posted it was simply a desire to share something that was new to me... and find out whether others knew about it.

ozmoose said:
However, if his intended goal was to post a bit of advertorial/promotional copy, he seems to have failed rather dismally.
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No hidden agenda here. In fact, I'm a bit taken aback by all the comments elicited by something I found new and somewhat refreshing.
 
To get in contact with new ideas is already a positive thing, than it is up tu us to make use of them.
Depending on the ideas, on the concepts concepts it can take time to digest.
 
I had never heard of it. The galleries are pleasant enough. It seems like a "patterns over objects" approach to seeing the world, which I appreciate.
 
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