Tuesday 5 November 2013

ABC News: Snap happy: bestselling author Matthew Johnstone finds peace through photography

ABC News online posted an article on 4th November 2013 titled: Snap happy: bestselling author Matthew Johnstone finds peace through photography. The article outlined how someone combined mindfulness practice with photography.

Here are some quotes:
"Much has been written about the elusive search for calm and happiness, and the latest offering comes from an author who says the best place to look might be through your camera's lens.

Matthew Johnstone, who spent more than a decade as an award-winning advertising creative before trying his hand at motivational writing and illustrating, has penned a new book about achieving peace by taking photos.

Capturing Mindfulness focuses on the increasingly popular practice of mindfulness, which typically involves regular meditation.

But instead of encouraging people to sit down and close their eyes, Johnstone urges them to open their eyes and go hunting for photos.

Johnstone spent years struggling with depression, particularly when he was working in the advertising industry in the US, and he says his road to recovery started when he picked up a camera.
[...]
...It was through this camera that I realised the whole concept and idea of being in the moment."
[...]
Photography at the end of the day is really about stopping, it's really about seeing what's in front of us, it's really about stopping and focusing and it's about capturing that moment," he told the ABC.
[...]
...I slow down and start going around and really noticing things and seeing the best angles and light and spots. That to me is my real joy."

He says there is no need to be a master photographer or have an expensive camera, pointing out that he takes many of his photos with his phone's camera.

"I don't know a lot about the technicalities of photography and I set most of my photos to auto, but the camera simply asks you what can you see that no-one else can? What captures your heart, your brain, your soul?," he said."

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