Hi folks, I hope you are well, this Sunday we will meet online as the forecast says it may be showery. Meeting at 7.00pm, the link will be in the usual places, please let me know if you aren’t in them and would like to join us.
This week I want to build on a few things we have done regularly over the last few months, we had a great walk last Sunday along the seafront. We even found space to have a drink outside, the first time we had gathered around a pub table for fifteen months, it was a delight!
On our way along the sea front and then on our way back nature opened up for us, we saw dolphins in the sea, it stopped us and we got our cameras out and started snapping! There were OOOOSS and AHHHS as we saw the odd one breach and spin back into the sea. It was beautiful!
It may be that you have done Petes latest walk, if you haven’t, why not have a go, either before this Sunday or sometime soon. As part of our walks, and as part of the pandemic we often ask you to take photos… It’s a good thing to do!
The other day I went for a longer walk than usual and as I walked I documented it by snapping some photos as I went, it was great. When I got home I started thinking about sorting out work stuff over the next couple of months and trying to get ahead of the game to leave a bit of space for August. I was scrolling through some of the articles I have saved to my reading list on Google and I noticed a title of something that I had saved – ‘A soulful Vision Steve Radley on contemplative photography’. click here for the link.
The opening introduction made me sit up… “Priest and photographer Steve Radley explains why the camera and smartphone are deeply spiritual and talks about his mission to persuade a nation of visual storytellers to pause before they snap”.
We have covered some of his reflections in other posts, taking notice, the spirituality of the everyday, etc. We will be doing more about that in September as well.
What struck me as I read it, was after we walked along the seafront last Sunday many of us tried to snap the photo by just clicking our camera phone constantly trying to capture that perfect moment!
And then as i watched the England game the other day, England had a free kick and i noticed folks in the crowd had their camera phone ready to snap that moment they hoped the ball would hit the back of the net!
And then I remembered one of the last gigs I went to before lockdown was to see Kae Tempest (formerly Kate Tempest) and just as the gig started she asked us all to get out our camera phones and she posed for various photos and then asked us to put our phones away so that we could be in the moment. The gig was different as people weren’t trying to get that perfect shot and straining with their arms in the air waving their phone around!
And so i thought about all this I was wondering what that says about us? Yes it’s great to take photos and document them for that moment, but what are we missing?
Steve’s thoughts are that before we take the photo, we should PAUSE and CLICK. I wonder what we would notice around us if we did that? Is that a liminal space? That between space, the now and not yet space, the very moment before the moment?
Could this be where ‘God’ or our version of ‘God’ reside?
Some questions:
Show us your best photo either physical or on your phone (why not upload it to the page)
What do you think you are doing when you take photos?
What do you think of spiritualising your photo taking?
What do you think pausing would help you do, before you take a photo?
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.