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In his new book, Attracting Awareness: The Motif in Miksang, Michael Wood introduces us to a way to pay attention and photograph our world as it changes moment to moment, hour by hour, day by day. It is a practice that appeals to those of us who have learned that the key to the enjoyment of our visual world is having a mind that is still, present, and available in our daily lives and our ordinary environment. Rather than going about our daily routine without noticing what is around us, if we are paying attention in a deep way to our world, we discover it is changing constantly in a myriad of delightful ways.
Michael begins with a presentation of Claude Monet’s motifs, with examples from some of his motif series. Monet was perhaps the only painter to delve deeply and extensively into environmental change being expressed as subject matter. Michael then describes how the motif manifested organically from his own practice of seeing and photographing. He showcases images from some of his own motifs and gives instruction for how we can find our own motifs from places and scenes that repeatedly magnetize our awareness. |
This is a wonderful contribution to all practitioners of contemplative photography and is easily accessible to all. Michael’s examples give us what we need to tune in to our own environment and discover our own motifs.
Attracting Awareness is available in PDF format only.
PRICE $19.95 USD
Book Reviews:
I thoroughly enjoyed your latest book! The images illustrate so clearly the nature of what you mean by a motif. One of my favorite quotes is, “It is possible for us to see and experience the confluence of factors that come together to create each moment, the interdependency of many things that results in a perception of a moment rather than a ‘thing’.” This is definitely an aspect of awareness that I want to explore. Thank you for leading the way!
Kat
This latest publication by Michael builds on the practice of Miksang. Starting with a discussion of Claude Monet’s motifs and then moving into examples that have evolved organically in Miksang through Michael’s own practice, we gain new insights which allow us to expand on the practice of “Deep Noticing” and brings us to new levels of visual awareness. A highly enjoyable book that I will come to again and again.
Paul
