It’s all about the heart: from photography to yoga.
This is a personal blog and I feel some tingling about sharing this with you.
What does photography and yoga have in common? For me the link is the heart.
You see, when I started the photography business, I was unsure about many things, then I met Joe Buissink. He’s an American photographer whose work I love. I find it exquisitely artistic, yet he doesn’t try, he just captures the beauty there is, he really sees people, places, light and how all comes together in a perfect moment. He explained that because of his difficult first years, he highly values people and relationships, and he wants to show in his photography how precious each person is, each relationship. I was sighing with recognition, you know when you feel you’re home, that this is it, your calling. and then, he summed it all up for me: I shoot from the heart.
Now I don’t talk about it too much because I’m afraid to scare people off, you know. You just want some photos, not a hippy love affair. But then I read that Annie Leibovitz had said: “A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people.” Aaron Siskind: “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving.” Don McCullin: “Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.” And many more say something similar, not just me.
My next stage was to train as a Beloved photographer. I wanted to take photos of people showing their authentic selves, not posing. I wanted them to feel the love between them when they saw the photos, so I learned how to get people to play and share, and go deep in their feelings- or not, as they want. But you’ll admit that your smile will be brighter and warmer when you look at someone you love than when you look at me whom you don’t really know.
I love photography and I love the people I photograph, and of course, my husband, my children, my family, friends, cats, nature and more. Yet I was still looking for love inside me, like there couldn’t be enough love to fill me up. I started yoga and liked it’s softeness and wanted more of something but couldn’t put my finger on it. Until I found Heart of Living Yoga. Yoga, with heart. putting heart, love in the core of my life, daily, moment by moment, filling up with it and overflowing.
So here is the link: love, self love, love of others, of nature, of real moments, of connection. Has this changed my photography? I’ve noticed that I love more and more not posing at all, when possible I love just seeing people and capturing their spirit, whether it’s kids, adults, elderly people, people with illnesses, I love seeing them and honouring them as they are, and capturing their relationships with their loved ones and the world. I trust more that I don’t need to control anything, even though I can do if it’s helpful.
So now I am a photographer and teach photography I also teach Heart of Living Yoga meditation, and soon yoga- after I’ve gone to India in January. Many ways to serve and honour, and yes, to love.
No, I’m not on the photo, of course, I’m behind the camera, but you can always see the photographer in the photo as you see through their eyes. And yes I prefer this photo to the one where everyone looks at the camera, there are more stories here.
If you’re read this, thank you.
If you want photos that are authentic, and done with love, I’d be glad to serve.
If you want to start meditation, give me a call too.
Alix