Towards nothing: photographing through the lens of Zen intuition

My project investigates the ways that practices of photography and Zen can fold into a singular practice. The practice of photography in this project centres on the act of photographing while walking, which moves the focus of photographic practice from image-making to the processes involved in taking a photograph. This method is developed alongside an investigation of Zen Intuition, which is a term that amalgamates the intuitive practices that occur within Zen, one of which is Zen-seeing. Zen-seeing is described as a phenomenon in which seeing turns into one's nature and is an immersion-first, non-dualistic understanding of the world in the here and now.

By investigating the links between Zen Intuition and photographing, my project resulted in two major outcomes. One is Active Capture which refers to an apparatus-less photographing method in which the process of photographing becomes the only outcome of photography. The second is Chronolocation which is a way of understanding photographic practice and the resulting photographs through Zen philosophy and Active Capture. This project develops photography as a way of locating a very specific version of Zen-based intuition in the world, while also allowing the practitioner to co-arise with it, with the photograph acting as the residue of this action.