Thus speaks Chuang Tsu

**Hugo Zhang** · 17-Jun-2006, 09:58

Do not seek fame. Do not make plans. Do not be absorbed by activities. Do not think that you know. Be aware of all that is and dwell in the infinite. Wander where there is no path. Be all that heaven gave you, but act as though you have received nothing. Be empty, that is all.
The mind of a perfect man is like a mirror. It grasps nothing. It expects nothing. It reflects but does not hold. Therefore, the perfect man can act without effort.

**Ralph Barker** · 17-Jun-2006, 11:06

Interesting thoughts. Does that mean we're supposed to shoot with empty holders?

**Bruce Watson** · 17-Jun-2006, 11:33

Originally Posted by Ralph Barker

Interesting thoughts. Does that mean we're supposed to shoot with empty holders?

Been there, done that. Not nearly as exciting as you might think ;-)

**Capocheny** · 17-Jun-2006, 12:18

No expectations... no disappointments!

Or, how about, "Luminous objects need not shine light upon itself?"

YIKES.... time for a double dry macchiatto!

Cheers

**Hugo Zhang** · 17-Jun-2006, 14:28

"Does that mean we're supposed to shoot with empty holders?"

I did more than that. I had not made a singel exposure with my Deardorff for three years until two months ago. I read and I swim my years away. I had to go back to this forum to make sure I loaded my films the right way. What surprised me was how much my pictures have been improved when I looked at them! Compositions and the way I used the light.

The perfect man is the artist. To empty yourself in order to absorb the world. To use Rilke's words: "For the sake of a single poem, you must see many cities, many people and many Things, you must understand animals, must feel how birds fly, and know the gesture which small flowers make when they open in the morning."

For me, taking pictures with a LF camera is more a way to discover the world around me than fine prints on the walls. Though I can't deny the excitement and sense of accomplishment caused by that exquisite contact print in my trembling hands. It shouted loudly at me: I am your creation and you have given me a life beyond my natural life!

Without the help of the ground glass of my Deardorff, I could not fully enjoy the following lines from Rilke:

"Why, if this interval of being can be spent serenely
in the form of a laurel, slightly darker than all
other green, with tiny waves on th edges
of every leaf (like the smile of a breeze)--; why then
have to be human--and, escaping from fate,
keep longing for fate?..."

**Brian Vuillemenot** · 17-Jun-2006, 22:06

"One must empty one's cup, before it may be filled."

**400d** · 18-Jun-2006, 04:51

How about a lil. Bruce Lee's?

Originally Posted by "Bruce Lee

Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

**Paul Coppin** · 18-Jun-2006, 06:29

What surprised me was how much my pictures have been improved when I looked at them!

That may simply mean you've lowered your expectations, not raised your competence.

Do not look too deeply into the mirror of the soul, you may not be able to tolerate what looks back at you.

**Paul Fitzgerald** · 18-Jun-2006, 09:55

Hugo,

"Do not seek fame. Do not make plans. Do not be absorbed by activities. Do not think that you know. Be aware of all that is and dwell in the infinite. Wander where there is no path. Be all that heaven gave you, but act as though you have received nothing. Be empty, that is all."

Wouldn't it be easier to just throw out the TV and never watch it again?

"What surprised me was how much my pictures have been improved when I looked at them! Compositions and the way I used the light."

Still some work to do, there's that word "I" again. Losing the 'ego', dispensing with 'self' to become a 'witness' may be wonderful with landscape or still-life but I don't think it would work too well with portraits, where person-to-person interaction is more important than photo skills.

"Do not seek fame. Do not make plans. Do not be absorbed by activities. Do not think that you know. Be aware of all that is and dwell in the infinite. Wander where there is no path. Be all that heaven gave you, but act as though you have received nothing. Be empty, that is all."

Actually, come to think about it, there will be plenty of time for 'absolutely nothing' in the grave, I think I'll wait.

Thanks for the thread.

**Hugo Zhang** · 18-Jun-2006, 11:35

Paul,

"Wouldn't it be easier to just throw out the TV and never watch it again?"

I don't watch TV, but allow my kids to watch some.

"but I don't think it would work too well with portraits, where person-to-person interaction is more important than photo skills."

I actually imagine myself into the person whom I take picture. Sound stupid, but I do that. There is no person-to-person interaction for me. I am the silent observer and recorder of a glorious moment of a person's life. I am merely a mirror.

"Absolutely nothing" in this world is more enjoyable than that of a grave from which nobody has returned to tell us what the difference is.