For one long weekend in May, me and four photographers travelled to the charming little isle of Ona at the Western coast of Norway.
Our photography weekend was not only about the beautiful location, but about the theme “mindful photographing”. Many people are talking about mindfulness. But what is “mindful photographing”? One essential point is to be 100% present in the moment, leave distractions behind and only focus on photographing. The process was more important than the result.
We wished to express different kind of moods in our pictures, both dark and light moods. To be able to do this we had to work through many aspects of the visual language. The theory lections were combined with dialog about personal experiences. The participants worked then with practical tasks outside. Each session was finished with a dialog and feedback for their pictures.
At Ona, far from the coast and surrounded by the sea, the weather is changing really quickly. It’s like our mood that can change quickly as well.
The photographers got an additional challenge because of the weather: When we worked with the dark mood theme there was bright sunlight. The opposite happened when we worked with the light mood. Then we had cloudy and rainy weather. However, the participants managed to express the mood which was demanded with huge variation, both with the traditional way of photographing and with ICM and multiple exposure in camera.
During these few days we connected both with the phantastic nature, the nice people from Ona and the history.
An incredible journey, both to the isle of Ona and to our inside mood and thoughts, is over for now. However, all photographers wish to continue this travel, at Ona or another place. And maybe, others will join us next time.
Thanks to all the wonderful photographers who made this mindful photography exploration to a wonderful journey!