On pictures, and holding

Sinds oktober vorig jaar werk ik aan (digitaal sjamanistisch) fotografisch ritueel Holding Pain, waarbij ik mannen uitnodig naar hun verdriet te gaan om vervolgens 18 minuten lang – in stilte – in mijn camera te kijken. Het is in ontwikkeling, nogal. In deze blogpost onderzoek ik de rol van fotografie. Wat betekent het maken van een foto? Wat doet dat eigenlijk? Wanneer maak je een foto? Waarom? Wanneer niet? Waarom? Dat lijkt me zeker in een tijd van smartphones, social media, een paar miljard nieuwe foto’s per dag en er altijd maar goed op willen staan relevant om uit te pluizen. . 😉 Reageer graag als je je geroepen voelt. Hoe dan ook: welkom in mijn onderzoek. Ik neem je graag mee.

(Voor alle duidelijkheid: het zijn mijn woorden, mijn gedachten. Niet van één of andere AI-chatbot. 🙂

A picture is just a capturing of energy (/ material / particles retrieved from a specific point in time, place and action), isn’t it?

And if it is a capturing of you, is it still capturing you?

Some spiritual traditions believe that a picture takes and holds a part of your soul.

What you hold, holds you ~ as well.

What holds you, keeps you away from being ~ in the here and now (keeping you away from deep connection, deep flow).

What holds you, keeps sticking to you, keeps you sticking.

What holds you, is a distortion for your attention, isn’t it?

In what way can pictures serve you the most? 

What would you like to be captured? What parts of you would you like to be captured?

What does capturing mean? What does capturing do?

Would you like to have your dearest, your best parts captured?

Or would you like to have your most painful, your worst parts captured?

Do you mind? Don’t you mind?

What would be your intention?

A picture is a portal to a point in place, time and action, isn’t it?

A picture is a memory or imagination made physical.

Why would we keep a painting (together)? For years, for ages?

Why do we create to last? Why is it so important to put and keep all the particles in place, together? 

Why do we want to document things? In the end it is just limited capturing of energy / reality, isn’t it?

Why would we even keep a painting, a pack of particles together that doesn’t even look like the object itself? 

What is the relevance of a(n ancient) painting? What is the value of a(n old) statue? What is the value of keeping pictures on Instagram?

Why don’t we destroy (old) objects or let them just fall apart, (like their natural tendency makes them to do)?

Why are people investing so much money, effort, energy in keeping (old) stuff together?

Why do we restore (cultural) objects? 

Why do we document, archive, store? Why do we train AI and let it capture and hold so much energy?

Waste of energy can only take place in times of abundance.

How much energy did it cost to build dolmen, pyramids, cathedrals? How large was the abundance of energy? How much ego did it take to invest so much effort, energy, and lives?

What is the relationship between wasting energy and ego? 

Why am I keeping so many pictures on Flickr? Why do I store so much video, activity, energy on Youtube and waste so much – daily? Why do I have a 100 gigabyte Google Drive?

My grandmother kept just a few pictures in a box. That was more than enough for her. I don’t know where they are, right now.

Stored energy can alter the state of your mind, the state of your being. Stored energy can touch you. Stored energy can educate you. 

What can storing energy do?