The Bookshelf #13 - Still - A Mindful Practice for Photographers - Paul Sanders
Still - A Mindful Practice for Photographers
Paul Sanders
Published by Ilex
Available from Amazon from £20.00
This book arrived at a good time for me, both from the point of view that it’s the start of the school holidays and I find myself free for the next six weeks, and also from the angle of having a bit of a creative block of late. It’s been far too long since I went out with the camera and made images and this book, I feel, is genuinely going to help me to change that.
In this book, Sanders leans on his experiences and talks at length about the way that mindfulness can be used to be improve out photography and that photography can be used to help us to take control of our minds.
I have been aware of mindfulness for the last 10 years. I was sent on a course to learn how to teach mindfulness to children and I was very sceptical before I attended, expecting a load of wishy washy nonsense. Instead what I found was lots of good advice and ideas of how I could control my own thoughts, prevent burnout and relieve stress. Safe to say, that I was “converted” and it’s something I have been using in one form or another ever since.
Let’s get this straight though… Mindfulness isn’t just about meditation, and it’s certainly not about sitting on a cushion with your legs crossed, fingers pinched together making an “Ommmmmmm” sound. In my experience, it’s about clearing your mind of negative thoughts, focussing on the moment and being present in what you are doing.
Many things we do are mindful and we don’t even realise it - at a basic level, if you are doing something and you’re 100% focussed on it and are thinking of nothing else, you’re doing something mindful. When I was teaching this to my students, it could have been something as colouring in a mandala or focussing on a piece of food you’re eating. There is a more meditative aspect to this, but that’s not the focus of this book.
Sanders leverages the idea of mindful practice really well in this book and makes a good case for how you can use this in your photographic process. He breaks this down into 6 chapters, each interspersed with assignments that you can use to develop your skills and in turn (certainly in my case) overcome a creative rut. A whole chapter is devoted to creative block, and it can be a good starting point, or you could choose to work through the book in order. It doesn’t have to be a linear read.
One of the big aims of the book is to get you to think differently about the way you photograph, not the physical making of the images but the processes that you go through before you hit that shutter button. It encourages you to slow, to take in more of the scene before you start shooting, allow you senses to adjust and then think about the image(s). I think in doing this, it makes what we do become more intentional; we’ve all been there - we think we’re losing the light and we end up engaging in “spray and pray” photography and then ending up with images we’re not happy with or no images at all. Following some the advice in this book will help you to overcome some of those situations.
The photographs in this book are calm, minimal and often deeply atmospheric, demonstrating how ordinary landscapes and everyday details can carry genuine emotional weight. They complement the writing particularly well, giving the book a gentle, unhurried rhythm that suits its message.
This is a really well produced book, not too big, hardback and the paper is beautifully heavy which suits the images and gives this book a feel that it cost way more than what you’re likely to pay for it!
Still will be especially valuable to photographers who feel creatively stuck, overwhelmed by technical concerns or under pressure to constantly produce new work. It offers a thoughtful reminder that meaningful photography does not always come from travelling further, owning more equipment or pursuing dramatic conditions. Sometimes it begins simply by paying closer attention to what is already in front of us.
You can grab your copy of Still by Paul Sanders for around £20 on Amazon.
Check out some of my other bookshelf posts by clicking the links below.
