MINDFUL PHOTOGRAPHY

Discover Paul Sanders’ still and calm approach to taking and making pictures

- Paul Sanders

We all lead busy, fast-paced lives attached to our phones, and the seemingly endless deluge of emails, texts, images, and adverts that bombard our lives, added to the demands of work and family, can leave us feeling that there’s no time left in the day for us, and little opportunity to notice the small moments of beauty that are around us every day.

Mindful photography is a celebration of the beauty in the everyday, ordinary subjects, and emphasizes not being judgemental or tied to preconceived ideas. For me, it’s about viewing everything with awe and wonder, from dew on the grass to magnificent landscapes.

Its essence is to ‘see’ the world through your own eyes, noticing what makes you pause to take at the moment. This involves slowing down, making time for yourself; tuning out the random noise from the rest of the world, and tuning in to what the world has to reveal to you.

I started my mindful photography practice about four years ago. It is a meditation on beauty. It is opening your eyes to possibilities and accepting the things you’re presented with. It’s not about likes, gear, settings, or prizes, but about being, and enjoying what you see without judgment or agenda.

Paul Sanders has been a professional photographer since 1984, and in 1991 moved into newspapers. By 2004 he was Picture Editor at The Times, looking through 20,000 images a day. In 2011 he turned to landscape photography to reconnect with the world. He’s passionate about the power photography has to help people overcome anxiety, and positively adjust their outlook on life. He set up Still, which offers people a new way to use photography to express themselves and explore the world. www.discoverstill.com