Buddhas of Zandvoort

Walking around Zandvoort during the workshop last weekend I noticed and photographed a lot of buddhas. There were only two shops selling buddhas, but each of them had a large variety as you can see below.

Hands of a little gey buddha. The hands seem half folded towards each other, but the gesture is not entirely clear.

Jade colored buddha with hands in the Dyana mudra:the gesture of absolute balance, of meditation.

Smiling face of a fat grey buddha with eyes closed.

Hands of buddha with palms facing up, a gesture of receiving.

Laughing fat buddha

Pink buddha with price tag around the neck.

Pink ganesh and buddha with their hands covering their eyes.

Purple head of buddha in my hotel room.

Smiling fat buddha with his face in his hands.

Smiling grey buddhas with hands covering their mouths.

Weeping black buddha.

Hands of a little grey buddha with a small mala.

Miksang & Meditation, top 3 of Day 2

Below follows my top 3 of the second day of the workshop Miksang & Meditation. Again, we started the morning with a 30-minute meditation to calm our minds. I noticed that during the day my flashes of perception were no high peaks anymore, but little bumps, even to the point that I sometimes wondered whether I had a flash or not. According to the teacher I had reached a certain level of equanimity, a certain level of availability which is why the peaks are not that noticeable anymore. She also noticed that my pictures contained a certain softness that wasn't there before.

We also viewed each others photos again from yesterday and had to speak out loud when we felt that the image was fresh. That was quite revealing: there were some of my pictures that were very fresh to me (where I was definitely stopped), but not to others and vice versa. So, apparently freshness is not always experienced by everyone in the same way, as we all have our own package of thoughts, standards, patterns, likes and dislikes.

More pictures of Day 1, Miksang & Meditation

Yesterday I posted a few pictures of Day 1 of the workshop Miksang & Meditation, it was an assignment to select the top 3 of your pictures. That doesn't mean the best 3 pictures, but the 3 pictures which are the most fresh. Fresh means a fresh perception, a perception without thought or judgement, not constructed or arranged.

Today I post some of the other fresh perceptions I had during that first day of our wonderful workshop.

We started indoors, photographing the other participants and everything else in the room.

 Then we went outside to photograph on our own in the streets of Zandvoort.

Zandvoort is a beach town, and in summer there are a lot of tourists. Now it was rather quiet. And even though it was cold, it was a pleasure for me to walk on the beach and look at the different qualities of sand.

Miksang & Meditation, top 3 of Day 1

Last weekend I went to a two-day workshop called 'Miksang & Meditation'. The aim was to experience what effect meditation has on Miksang photography. During meditation I put my focus on my breath and when I realized that I was thinking, I put my attention back on my breath. It is a simple but quiet meditation and it calmed my mind.
Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the first day.

I will post more on the workshop in the following days.

A walk around the garden

Sometime last week there was a beautiful day. I was with H. and we walked around in his garden, looking at what needed to be done in Spring.

It had rained a lot the past few days and the ground was muddy. That gave a wonderful reflection.

There was a bleak sun and it felt like Spring. A few birds were singing and for a moment we thought that winter was over, which would not be a good thing, as it is only January.

H. showed me the edge of his garden and the neighboring lot that he could buy. Big question is: what is he going to do with it, as he is no farmer himself.

We noticed that the neighbor on the right had emptied his garden and flattened the ground. With the few large conifers sticking out his hedge, it looked kind of weird.

Society6: free shipping!

Society6 has a special offer through Sunday 26th of January: free shipping worldwide. Look over here for my little corner in that huge shop. Some examples of my products:

Maybe you see something that you like?

Granny

My granny passed away last week and the funeral was Saturday at Katwijk, a beach town on the coast of the Netherlands. Granny became 103 years old and last year she was proclaimed the eldest citizen of Katwijk.
Katwijk harbors a lot of my childhood memories: unlike the rest of the family we lived far away from the town and when we came to visit we usually stayed a whole weekend or a large portion of our holidays. Going to Katwijk was always exciting for us: except for seeing grandpa and grandma, we would be meeting all the other cousins, uncles and aunts, and take numerous visits to the beach. Spring, summer, autumn and winter, no season could keep us away from a visit to the beach.

After the funeral my sister and I went for a walk on the beach. For a Saturday afternoon it was quiet: a few guys were fishing, a couple of people were taking a walk with their dogs and/or kids.

There are massive works going on at the beach, apparently it is being broadened. Many tracks of shovels are to be seen, they create interesting patterns in the sand.

The orange balloons were part of a partition: after this line it was strictly prohibited to walk on the beach, because of the danger of quicksand.

It was a sad occasion, but it was great seeing all of my family again. And granny, we will miss you!

Second exhibition: Naarden

Last week I had a meeting with the organizer of the exhibitions at a large nursing home in Naarden. He was a very sympathetic man and explained about the possibilities. I had taken one of my prints on MDF to fit on the hooks (learning point from my first exhibition). He showed me the different hooks he had and he was confident that it would all fit.

There is room for about 30 pictures which to me is quite a lot. Presently I am sorting out my pictures and looking for suitable themes. He explained that artists sell about one piece per exhibition and pictures or paintings that depict something that is recognizable sell well, not abstracts.

So keeping that in mind I'm flipping through my pictures again, looking for flowers, animals, trees, skies and so on. I will let you know more about this process.

I will hang the pictures on February 28th, I'm so excited!

Reflections on August, 2013

And here are some impressions of last August. Still a hot month, we had a good summer!
I was still fascinated by sidewalks and platforms,

I explored light,evening light to be precise. Oh, how I wish the evenings were longer again!

 I looked around at the office and saw some lovely patterns there!

I experienced with a motiv for a day

and I went to the Teylers Museum in Haarlem with a friend.

August was a good month: I had good times and enjoyed friends, family and photo moments tremendously.

Reflections on July, 2013

Last July was another hot month and a month of vacation! I went to France for two intensive Miksang Contemplative Photography workshops in a row.
The first assignment was about color. See more on that over here.

The second assignment was about pattern.

Then came texture,

the sidewalkness of sidewalks,

the treeness of trees,

and finally our field of perception was about people.

Back home I continued a little on the sidewalkness of sidewalks, I found them incredibly fascinating.

And I shot two of the pictures that I exhibited at the Slotervaartverpleeghuis, some lovely reflections (what else?).

All in all a very productive month!