My View Finder - How Photographers Approach Photography

I met fellow Exposure Studio member Danny Luong building my first Perspectives Art Show. I don’t remember how. Maybe Alvin. I could fact check that, but obviously too late for that now. Danny’s main focus is documentary or journalistic - he uses different formats and subjects but always seems to focus on his family lineage, stories of immigrants in this country, and the generational experience of, at least right now, asian canadians.

Through our chat I kept hearing this asian perspective in his thinking and my head got stuck between concepts from Taoism and Zen Buddhism. For me, Zen Buddhism is a powerful spiritual influence that helps to moderate my own tendency to overcomplicate things; and by things I mean everything. 

Zen focuses on a practice is knowledge process and there’s great power to the subsequent concept that instead of thinking about an action, one must be present and simply act. Even if by act we mean to sit and not do anything! 

Danny brings up walking and meditation and he seems to embody a lot of the practical ideas that circle around Zen Buddhism. Even if he’s at odds with it often. It’s interesting that in acting Zen, there is always a sense of conflict and dialectic. Because in Zen, there’s no single truth. Life is a balancing act between every living and dying thing. Spiritualism is a process towards this sense of balance. Literal study a distraction from it!

“You cannot see the Path, you can only see from it” - Nanyue Huairang (677–744) 

So are we trying to look for the path, or are we looking out from it? I’m probably more the former… this podcast seems to be essentially that. But I think photographers like Danny tend to the latter. Whether he is aware of it or not, just participating in projects like his reflection on his family lineage seem to be actions towards balance, rather than thought experiments trying to label them! 

Hope you’re all out there continuation to act the truth rather than think it. And by act… aptly… actuate those shutters people!

I met fellow Exposure Studio member Danny Luong building my first Perspectives Art Show. I don’t remember how. Maybe Alvin. I could fact check that, but obviously too late for that now. Danny’s main focus is documentary or journalistic - he uses different formats and subjects but always seems to focus on his family lineage, stories of immigrants in this country, and the generational experience of, at least right now, asian canadians.

Through our chat I kept hearing this asian perspective in his thinking and my head got stuck between concepts from Taoism and Zen Buddhism. For me, Zen Buddhism is a powerful spiritual influence that helps to moderate my own tendency to overcomplicate things; and by things I mean everything. 

Zen focuses on a practice is knowledge process and there’s great power to the subsequent concept that instead of thinking about an action, one must be present and simply act. Even if by act we mean to sit and not do anything! 

Danny brings up walking and meditation and he seems to embody a lot of the practical ideas that circle around Zen Buddhism. Even if he’s at odds with it often. It’s interesting that in acting Zen, there is always a sense of conflict and dialectic. Because in Zen, there’s no single truth. Life is a balancing act between every living and dying thing. Spiritualism is a process towards this sense of balance. Literal study a distraction from it!

“You cannot see the Path, you can only see from it” - Nanyue Huairang (677–744) 

So are we trying to look for the path, or are we looking out from it? I’m probably more the former… this podcast seems to be essentially that. But I think photographers like Danny tend to the latter. Whether he is aware of it or not, just participating in projects like his reflection on his family lineage seem to be actions towards balance, rather than thought experiments trying to label them! 

Hope you’re all out there continuation to act the truth rather than think it. And by act… aptly… actuate those shutters people!

I sit down (over Zoom) with my good friend Alvin Paringit. We talk photography. Inspiration. And walking. He sends me a link to Bryan Formhals' blog Way of the Walk. Whenever I meet Alvin I always talk about the "why" of photography and he always humours me. He's a great photographer in a purist sense. He loves the process. And however disconnected we've both been lately from the publishing and feedback of public engagement, he's always got a camera in hand. Or at least around a strap or in a bag or somewhere on his body. 
Check out his work. Listen to our conversation. Let me know what your thoughts are on the idea that walking and the pursuit of self-development is at the core of photography. That mimicking great works should only be a step to greater things. We shouldn't hold ourselves back to simply recreating what we think is cool. Let's keep walking and build that next genre or image or moment!

I sit down (over Zoom) with my good friend Alvin Paringit. We talk photography. Inspiration. And walking. He sends me a link to Bryan Formhals' blog Way of the Walk. Whenever I meet Alvin I always talk about the "why" of photography and he always humours me. He's a great photographer in a purist sense. He loves the process. And however disconnected we've both been lately from the publishing and feedback of public engagement, he's always got a camera in hand. Or at least around a strap or in a bag or somewhere on his body. 
Check out his work. Listen to our conversation. Let me know what your thoughts are on the idea that walking and the pursuit of self-development is at the core of photography. That mimicking great works should only be a step to greater things. We shouldn't hold ourselves back to simply recreating what we think is cool. Let's keep walking and build that next genre or image or moment!

My chat with Curtis yeilded a fascinating reflection. I posited the idea that Photography has had a particularly negative impact on culture and Curtis responded. His approach of separating the act and pursuit of photography as a pure art form and the manner in which is used echoed Stoic approaches to ethics. Namely that the ultimate aim of any pursuit should be it's core virtue - separate from any worldly or secondary interpretations... in this case that photography itself remains pure when practiced for the "correct" virtue of capturing and displaying images. The fact that it has become politicized and used in specific and negative ways is not a reflection of photography itself but of others. Of the people who misused it.
Stoicism has become a great rallying call for spiritual pursuits. Looking for an idealism that promotes a humble inward look can unlock and free people from the burden of worrying what anyone else thinks. But is it simply that; and idealism? We don't get into the philosophy itself... it's something that occurred to me after the fact.
But there's a line between "pure" processes and "actual" expressions that, in my opinion, gets blurrier each generation. I want to agree with Curtis - that if I can't practice photography separate from what I want others to think of me, of money, of fame... then I shouldn't photograph. It's too damaging.
This process is just starting. It'll be a goal of mine to return to this idea after more conversations and perspectives.
Thanks to Curtis for his time. Check out his great body of work at www.curtisdez.com and on instagram @curtisdez . 

Stoics believe in acting for the process... the essential essence of an act. Not for the results. Not for the gains. But good and wise actions based on broader conceptual beliefs. Can photography be practiced this way? Is there an argument that most hobby and passion photography is already in this sphere? Or is there a line between "pure" processes and "actual" expressions that, in my opinion, gets blurrier each generation. I want to agree with Curtis - that if I can't practice photography separate from what I want others to think of me, of money, of fame... then I shouldn't photograph. It's too damaging.
This process is just starting. It'll be a goal of mine to return to this idea after more conversations and perspectives.
Thanks to Curtis for his time. Check out his great body of work at www.curtisdez.com and on instagram @curtisdez . 

Our discussion points me to consider my own values in my work. Can I, like Esther, face some of these ideas. This podcast/blog is a start, of course. But I’ll have to also have to be sure the concepts which I believe will express whatever opinion I project will be pure. That the position I realize will be the best reflection of my true self and therefore of my true intent and integrity. So that even in the face of any criticism… I can make the conversation very simple. That whatever I have created in whatever manner in which it is seen, consumed, and or reflected… is in its essence, some form of a truth for me.

Thank you to Esther for your time. And to you, dear listener, for yours! To see Esther's project, click here: Know Your Place. To connect with Esther, check out her website www.estherchophotography.com or her social media @estherchophotography on instagram.

Send me your subscribes, likes, comments, debates, challenges... send me something to start a conversation! 

In considering Photography's role in establishing, manipulating, and perhaps controlling the ideas of "normal" or "good" - I thought of my friend Esther's recent work entitled Know Your Place. A series of stark images about the role assigned to Korean women. This is an evolving definition, of course, but one that I personally resonated with.
Here, in two parts, is our discussion about the relationship between photography, expression, race, and representation.
To connect with Esther, check out her website www.estherchophotography.com or her social media @estherchophotography on instagram.

David Youn is not interested in the technical side of photography, but the thinking and philosophies behind snapping a picture. Subscribe now to get each new episode!

Email Dave at [email protected]