How thoughts on death may enrich your own photography with an creative attitude of peace of mind
Buddhist philosophy on mindfulness and the ancient Greek-Roman Stoa share a very special thought. The idea of death and its impact on the living. What does death have to to with an creative attitude of peace of mind, one might ask.
For Buddhists of most traditions the contemplation of death, which might be uncommon for most particularly Western people, comprises a precious impact. In one of the most important texts regarding mindfulness, the satipatthana-sutta from about 20 AD, there is a mental practice to cultivate mindfulness and equanimity - among other things the imagination of the human's physical condition after the occurrence of death, of another and the own body.
For Stoics like the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius there follows an unconditional appeal from the reflection upon ones own death. Around 170 years later he joins the uncomfortable idea, that life could end right now, with the challenge to behave, talk and think 'appropriately'. Memento mori, be aware of your own mortality.
Bergman no. 2, Regensburg, 2009 © Dr. Christine Lehr
Like to most Buddhists it seemed apparent to Marcus Aurelius too that there lies a possibility of gaining a new perspective on life through the meditation and contemplation on death. Whether initial thoughts on death result instantly in a creative peace of mind might remains questionable.
But there are three ways how this unfamiliar contemplation on transience and death could enrich your own photography. First, what do I see in the world when allowing the thought of death to arise? Perhaps transience or even dying implies an aesthetic depth, which gives conscious, awake, fresh life the precious significance it already innates. Nature in autumn for example, or nuances of momentariness of subtle daylight, or faces that age.
Second, how do I change in handling my camera, while trying to integrate thoughts on death? Do I choose another medium like grainy, analoge black and white film to portrait such faces? And third, how does my time with the camera varies? Can I use it to express something timeless? Will time become more valuable in its continuous fading?
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