capturing essence

Posted on 10:16 AM by michael St.cole

On a journey across lands of old, retracing the Ramayama and relating it's relevance to yoga today,  photographing yogis, gurus and the expressions of spiritually I find across the world. Recently in the midst of my frustration over trying to display images that I feel represent me as an artist, Miss 'M' had to flay me with the question, “who are you, who are you?” The whipping stick finally broke the shell of outer considerations of what I think is expected of me,
of what I assume sells well; it broke through the façade of who I pretend to be. I saw the integral part of my mechanism is my search for truth, my search for home, my search for inner peace; my spiritual journey. I realized that while photographing pretty people, inspirational architecture and our sacred rituals, the lens through which I am seeing the world is one of spirituality. That’s who I am. That is what gives my images texture. That focus is what I need to represent me as an artist and as a man.
I am now creating a body of work, photographing the expressions of spirituality, in whatever form they appear, in diverse cultures around the globe.  Aside from my Yoga TTC, that is what this journey is all about.
G.I. Gurdjieff spoke of the difference between subjective and objective art. He reasoned that the art we see in galleries is subjective. The images are but accidental reactions to mechanical habits and semi-conscious influences that guide the painter/writer/dancer/ photographer like strings yank a puppet. And consequently the art will bounce off the viewer with as many diverse influences as there are viewers, bringing a smile to one, a frown to another and stirring the groins of a third.
Objective art is expressed by an artist when, and only when, they are in the direct influence of universal consciousness. The art, whether it is a book, architecture or an image will induce the measured and intended response to every viewer. It will touch them in a way they might not understand or are able to relate. It will be seen by their soul. That is the art I wish to create. Images seen by the soul.
So my wish to travel transcends simple desires to get out of town but to explore within. I need to not only explore this world, but to give myself to it. I need to connect with the yogi and the guru but connect with the higher, becoming a vessel through which all we search for shows itself.
That’s what these AirIndia tickets represent. That’s the journey that I’m inviting you to join me on. Come, lets see.

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