Greetings:
I am possibly interested in taking a Miksang Contemplative Photography workshop with Michael Wood. While he does not use large format for the course, the ideas I am sure are applicable. Has anyone had any experience with this workshop or method??
ScottJonesPhoto.com
Who is Michael Wood? Never heard of the guy....does he have a web site?
I know Michael, and many people who have taken his Miksang course (including my wife). He is a very good instructor, and has very good results, taking non-photographers through a basic course of learning how to see, though to perception exercises, and onto being able to see the world in a new way. His approach is very non techincal (to the point that you can do the class with a point-and-shoot or full auto SLR), so it is not directly applicable to LF processes, but the mind-set changes that can arrise from Michael's course can certainly help with the LF process.
Online, Miksang is located at http://www.shambhala.org/centers/toronto/miksang.html
Michael Wood's site is
http://users.andara.com/~mwood/
All that being said, he does have a fair amount of Buddist theory mixed into the classes, and especially after the first level (I am not sure if his course still deals with Miksang I, II, II etc, but it used to). If you are not into the spiritual, this could be annoying, but the process work, I can guarentee.
Some results of Michael's approach can be seen on the following sites:
Ernest Cadegan http://www.ernestcadegan.com/
Curtis Steele: http://www.cheerfuleye.com/
Eric Boutilier-Brown
http://www.evolvingbeauty.com
I would be very interested in reading
"'Looking and Seeing: A Contemplative Photography Sourcebook"
that Michael Woods worked on with ......(I can't remember his name) if it is available somewhere. Any one know where to find it?
To get information on the Miksang courses I teach, go to www.miksang.net. Looking and Seeing has been out of print for many years. To understand the background of Miksang I would suggest reading 'Dharma Art' by Chogyam Trungpa.
I just finished level 1 with Michael Wood in San Francisco Nov. 4-8th. I am a professional who is used to shooting in medium format and found going back to the basics refreshing and the Miksaung way allowed me to let go of the technical control and open up to the simple beauty and form which is always before us. The workshop was intensive, wholly satisfying and well worth the trip.Some people traveled continents just to take his course! Everyone agreed it was indeed a "peak experience" for them. Michael's wisdom is deep, his patience endless, his photographic eye exquisite, his humor and easy manner all together enjoyable. I think I can speak for all of us in attendance when I say we took away much more than mere instruction. Our eyes and our hearts have been opened in a deeper manner. We will all be better photographers but more than that, we will go out into the world in a more peaceful way.
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