Snow Photographs
Winter 2020
Winter 2020
Click on the images for sharper rendering of images
An Introduction, Commentaries and Epilogue follow the photographs
~ Prelude to the Pandemic Project ~
Image #1 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #2 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #3 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #4 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #5 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #6 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #7 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #8 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #9 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #10 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #11 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #12 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #13 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
Image #14 Snow Photographs, Winder 2020
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Image #15 symmetrical photograph, Winder 2020
Image #16 symmetrical photograph, Winder 2020
Introduction
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I began writing this Introduction on Thursday, March 19, 2020, in the midst of the growing fear, danger and chaos of the Global Pandemic which has just struck--with great vengeance--the United States, New York City in particular, and nearly all other places in this world.
(Note: I say with great vengeance because I believe that Climate Change is directly related to this pandemic. I am certain that climate change is the consequence of how we humans have ignored and abused our beautiful planet (for example by the use of toxic gas and oil drilling methods, the use-consumption of fossil fuels, plastic, and dangerous chemicals used in farming and manufacturing, etc.). Science has been telling us that our planet has become alarmingly sick, and now the suffering which our planet has had to endure is coming back to haunt us humans--and the natural world--in the form of unusual and extraordinarily devastating weather events--storms, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, the pollution of lakes, rivers and oceans, excessive heat, the melting of icecaps, the rising of sea levels that threaten coastal cities and islands . . . and--I would add--the Global pandemic.)
Gloria and I spent much of Thursday shopping for food here in Canandaigua and in Rochester, NY which is twenty-five miles away. Both stores were lacking many important items, and many shelves were empty. The main highways leading into and out of Rochester were also empty except for the flashing signs that were urging everyone: STAY HOME. (Note: click here to see the complete collection of Pandemic Inspired Projects.)
Home: from a yogic perspective the word can refer to the uncreated Heart, or the divine Self, that ineffable, invisible, transcendent place of origin from which the created world spontaneously emerged and into which it will ultimately return and be reabsorbed, dissolved into the purest realm of silence, stillness. (See my project Creation-Dissolution of a World.)
On the following weekend (March 21 & 22) Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, the current head of the Siddha Yoga Path, presented the Global Siddha Yoga Community with two live-streaming video programs entitled Be In the Temple. Both programs included informal teachings by Gurumayi in which she addressed the current state of affairs throughout the world, and how we students of Siddha Yoga were responding to it.
The programs were held in the Nityananda Temple, in Shree Muktananda Ashram in New York State. (Note: the Siddha Yoga Path was founded by Swami Muktananda upon the command of his guru, Bhagavan Nityananda who left his body in 1961.) In the context of her speaking about caring for oneself and others, keeping a safe distance from each other, staying home, etc., I was especially moved when Gurumayi reminded us of Bhagavan Nityananda's sacred words above the entrance to the Temple:
Most of the snow photographs in this project were made in mid-February, 2020 in our back yard and in the meadow which lies just beyond. The winter of 2020 was quite cold at times, and at other times unusually warm; there was very little snow. In this unpredictable time of CHANGE due to the Climate Crisis , corrupted politics and corporate influence . . . and now the Coronavirus, I have felt a stronger than usual need to spend time in solitude, in quiet, in silence. Through the grace of the yogic practices, the grace of my Creative Process, and the grace that I experience when I contemplate photographs which function for me as symbols, I am able to still my mind and open my heart to the inner peace that is always available for me within the "Temple" of my innermost Self. (Note: see my project The Mirror in the Temple.)
In this year's collection of snow photographs, though many of the images appear to be simple, at the same time they are (for me) imbued with a cryptic, enigmatic presence. From just a few dark lines and self illuminated snow forms, constellations present themselves that hint of a secret sign language, or perhaps letters of an unknown alphabet which are trying to communicate some unsayable meaning to me. Robert Bly has suggested that such strange "writings" and "markings" may be offering us News of the Universe.
Image #3
I enjoy coming upon simple, elegant ready-made compositions in which the spaces between the lines and shapes are as palpably alive with meaning as the plants, shadows, and the mounds of snow themselves. (Note: I confess that I aspire to making a snow photograph as direct, and as abstract as Morandi's extraordinary drawings. See my Morandi inspired photography project: Still Life, and in particular the chapter entitled Landscapes)
I see a spider in Image #11; a primordial animal form in Image #10; and there are eyes looking at me in Image #9. In the image below two apparitional forms are alive with graceful, dance-like movements that remind me of leaping porpoises.
I recently heard a writer say that in times of great stress and social disorder, writing was a way for her to go inside and find comfort in a world that she could take full responsibility for, a world of order and meaning that reflected her own Imaginal reality. I feel that way about my snow project this year.
The remaining twelves photographs--placed between the two long views of the meadow and woods--offer closer views of plants, twigs, grasses and other objects which occupy the snow covered space between our house and the woods, such as a raised garden bed with stones placed upon its wooden edges (below).
The two symmetrical photographs are especially powerful, evocative images for me; indeed both are more powerful for me than the straight photographs I used in the construction of the symmetrical images. The four-fold symmetrical construction process has magically transformed and elevated the straight "source" images to the level of a true, living symbol for me.
The symmetrical images have an inner radiance and a sacred presence that I associate with some mandalas and religious Icons I have seen. Thomas Cheetham has written a fascinating book entitled All the World An Icon: Henry Corbin and the Angelic Function of Beings, and I will close this commentary section with a quote by him which I like very much:
Every creative act comes out of darkness and requires us to stand on the edge of the unknown . . . That place of unknowing is sacred . . . because it entails a willingness to sacrifice who we think we are and what we think we know . . . Every creative act is a prayer born of love and longing . . . Henry Corbin teaches us that "prayer is not a request for something: it is the expression of a mode of being, a means of existing and of causing to exist." It is the attempt to fill that pregnant darkness. Corbin says "Prayer is the highest form, the supreme act of the Creative Imagination." Longing and nostalgia are the energy . . . of prayer--they draw the soul through the darkness and toward the flame. (Note: see my project The Photograph as ICON.)
In the live-stream video programs with Gurumayi which I wrote about earlier, she did speak about being "like an angel" in this trying time when there is such a great need for people to be loving, caring, respectful and protective toward each other. And I was deeply moved by the intense and forceful way she talked about "taking responsibility." (In fact it seemed as if she were talking directly to me (probably because of the way I have been falling into fear recently when I listen to the news updates about the pandemic). The energy in Gurumayi's words set off in me several spontaneous contemplations regarding her teachings on responsibility. I will share with you a brief summarization of the essential ideas which I received from her teachings:
Blaming someone, or something else for whatever is happening in your world right now is NOT taking responsibility. Take responsibly now! Act in whatever way is appropriate for you and your situation so that you can take responsibility for what you are feeling and thinking, and for what you are doing and not doing. ~ "Remember" (Gurumayi said), "responsibility is your response to your ability. Take pride in what you have, in your capabilities." (Note: the quotation by Gurumayi was taken from the Siddha Yoga Website, in the "Be in the Temple Teachings" section. See the program notes entitled "Be Responsible." All italicized words are mine.)
It was shortly after those contemplations that I got the idea of making some symmetrical photographs for this project. After I made the two images presented and discussed above, I decided to try making a few more. I made eight symmetrical images in total, but I felt it best to include only the first two in this project. However I did glean from the process of making all eight of them an idea for a new project. (Note: I intend to publish the remaining six symmetrical images--and many more--in a future project. You can watch for my announcements of all of my new projects in the "Most Recently Added Projects" section at the very top of my blog's Welcome Page.)
For the past several weeks I have been re-reading (yet again) The Splendor of Recognition, a wonderful book authored by a beloved Siddha Yoga Teacher, Swami Shantananda. And I came upon a quote recently, by Swami Muktananda (taken from his book From the Finite to the Infinite) that was particularly meaningful for me in relationship to Gurumayi's teachings on responsibility. His words have also illuminated some of the thoughts and feelings I've been experiencing in relation to several of the snow photographs in this project, particularly the symmetrical Image #15. Thus I am concluding this project with the quote by Muktananda, and
then the symmetrical image:
Image #15, symmetrical photograph
(Note: I say with great vengeance because I believe that Climate Change is directly related to this pandemic. I am certain that climate change is the consequence of how we humans have ignored and abused our beautiful planet (for example by the use of toxic gas and oil drilling methods, the use-consumption of fossil fuels, plastic, and dangerous chemicals used in farming and manufacturing, etc.). Science has been telling us that our planet has become alarmingly sick, and now the suffering which our planet has had to endure is coming back to haunt us humans--and the natural world--in the form of unusual and extraordinarily devastating weather events--storms, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, the pollution of lakes, rivers and oceans, excessive heat, the melting of icecaps, the rising of sea levels that threaten coastal cities and islands . . . and--I would add--the Global pandemic.)
Gloria and I spent much of Thursday shopping for food here in Canandaigua and in Rochester, NY which is twenty-five miles away. Both stores were lacking many important items, and many shelves were empty. The main highways leading into and out of Rochester were also empty except for the flashing signs that were urging everyone: STAY HOME. (Note: click here to see the complete collection of Pandemic Inspired Projects.)
Home: from a yogic perspective the word can refer to the uncreated Heart, or the divine Self, that ineffable, invisible, transcendent place of origin from which the created world spontaneously emerged and into which it will ultimately return and be reabsorbed, dissolved into the purest realm of silence, stillness. (See my project Creation-Dissolution of a World.)
On the following weekend (March 21 & 22) Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, the current head of the Siddha Yoga Path, presented the Global Siddha Yoga Community with two live-streaming video programs entitled Be In the Temple. Both programs included informal teachings by Gurumayi in which she addressed the current state of affairs throughout the world, and how we students of Siddha Yoga were responding to it.
The programs were held in the Nityananda Temple, in Shree Muktananda Ashram in New York State. (Note: the Siddha Yoga Path was founded by Swami Muktananda upon the command of his guru, Bhagavan Nityananda who left his body in 1961.) In the context of her speaking about caring for oneself and others, keeping a safe distance from each other, staying home, etc., I was especially moved when Gurumayi reminded us of Bhagavan Nityananda's sacred words above the entrance to the Temple:
The Heart is the hub of all sacred spaces.
Go there and roam.
The Nityananda Temple is a beautiful, round space pervaded by a palpable feeling of stillness, silence and divine Presence. At the very center of the Temple is a murti, a life-size golden statue of the great saint. Brahman Priests regularly perform rituals to the murti with the intention of invoking Nityananda's grace and living presence.
The traditional yogic teachings say that at the center of every human being dwells a holy "Temple," the "One Universal Heart" which is the seat (Home) of the "divine Self." Many years ago, when my Creative Process in photography merged with my practice of Siddha Yoga Meditation, the making of photographs, and the contemplation of my photographs became a form of meditation and prayer by which I could enter into the sacred space at the Heart of my innermost Being.
The very best of my photographic images--the treasured fruit of my Creative Process--are for me pervaded by grace, the same sacred energy that pervades the Nityananda Temple and the murti. In Siddha Yoga that divine energy is known as Chiti Shakti, the Creative Power of the Universe. When I am photographing in alignment with the grace of my Creative Process, it's as if my perceptions of the outer world become channeled through the sacred space of my Heart. This "visionary" or intuitive way of seeing (with the "Eye of the Heart") can generate a very special kind of photographic image which is (for me) radiantly alive with an ineffable, sacred form of meaning. I refer to such images as symbols. Several photographs in this project function for me as symbols.
The traditional yogic teachings say that at the center of every human being dwells a holy "Temple," the "One Universal Heart" which is the seat (Home) of the "divine Self." Many years ago, when my Creative Process in photography merged with my practice of Siddha Yoga Meditation, the making of photographs, and the contemplation of my photographs became a form of meditation and prayer by which I could enter into the sacred space at the Heart of my innermost Being.
The very best of my photographic images--the treasured fruit of my Creative Process--are for me pervaded by grace, the same sacred energy that pervades the Nityananda Temple and the murti. In Siddha Yoga that divine energy is known as Chiti Shakti, the Creative Power of the Universe. When I am photographing in alignment with the grace of my Creative Process, it's as if my perceptions of the outer world become channeled through the sacred space of my Heart. This "visionary" or intuitive way of seeing (with the "Eye of the Heart") can generate a very special kind of photographic image which is (for me) radiantly alive with an ineffable, sacred form of meaning. I refer to such images as symbols. Several photographs in this project function for me as symbols.
*
Most of the snow photographs in this project were made in mid-February, 2020 in our back yard and in the meadow which lies just beyond. The winter of 2020 was quite cold at times, and at other times unusually warm; there was very little snow. In this unpredictable time of CHANGE due to the Climate Crisis , corrupted politics and corporate influence . . . and now the Coronavirus, I have felt a stronger than usual need to spend time in solitude, in quiet, in silence. Through the grace of the yogic practices, the grace of my Creative Process, and the grace that I experience when I contemplate photographs which function for me as symbols, I am able to still my mind and open my heart to the inner peace that is always available for me within the "Temple" of my innermost Self. (Note: see my project The Mirror in the Temple.)
Commentary
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In 2015 I published on my blog the first of my snow projects, The Silver World. Since then many additional snow projects have followed, including this one. (Note: see the Complete Collection of Snow Projects) I love the way snow transforms the world, the way its white purifies everything with its silence and interior light. I feel at peace when I am photographing in the stillness that pervades the snow covered world. I enjoy discovering the "drawings" (Images 4, 5 and 6) and luminous "sculptural forms" which emerge spontaneously from within the snow._____________________
Image #4
In this year's collection of snow photographs, though many of the images appear to be simple, at the same time they are (for me) imbued with a cryptic, enigmatic presence. From just a few dark lines and self illuminated snow forms, constellations present themselves that hint of a secret sign language, or perhaps letters of an unknown alphabet which are trying to communicate some unsayable meaning to me. Robert Bly has suggested that such strange "writings" and "markings" may be offering us News of the Universe.
Image #3
I enjoy coming upon simple, elegant ready-made compositions in which the spaces between the lines and shapes are as palpably alive with meaning as the plants, shadows, and the mounds of snow themselves. (Note: I confess that I aspire to making a snow photograph as direct, and as abstract as Morandi's extraordinary drawings. See my Morandi inspired photography project: Still Life, and in particular the chapter entitled Landscapes)
Image #11
Image #9
I see a spider in Image #11; a primordial animal form in Image #10; and there are eyes looking at me in Image #9. In the image below two apparitional forms are alive with graceful, dance-like movements that remind me of leaping porpoises.
Image #13
I recently heard a writer say that in times of great stress and social disorder, writing was a way for her to go inside and find comfort in a world that she could take full responsibility for, a world of order and meaning that reflected her own Imaginal reality. I feel that way about my snow project this year.
*
The project consists of sixteen images, the first fourteen of which are straight photographs; the two concluding images are symmetrical photographs. The symmetrical images were constructed with straight photographs included in the project.
Image #1 is a view--from the back of our house--of the southwest section of the snow covered meadow and the tapering woods just beyond it. The fourteenth image is a view of the northwest section of the meadow and woods.
Image #1 is a view--from the back of our house--of the southwest section of the snow covered meadow and the tapering woods just beyond it. The fourteenth image is a view of the northwest section of the meadow and woods.
Image #1
Image #14
The trees had become coated with freezing rain during the night, and then, in the early morning hours, a light dusting of snow. ~ I like the simple formal elegance and soft tonalities of these two related images. When placed together, one image above the other, I enjoy the gentle and yet dynamic interaction between the two different but similar horizontal shapes of the woods which appear to continue on in the distance without end, and which appear to be floating--suspended--between snow and sky. (Note: to see my entire series of views of the meadow and woods, visit my Meadow project.)
Image #6
The remaining twelves photographs--placed between the two long views of the meadow and woods--offer closer views of plants, twigs, grasses and other objects which occupy the snow covered space between our house and the woods, such as a raised garden bed with stones placed upon its wooden edges (below).
Image #8 straight photograph
Image #16, symmetrical photograph
The two symmetrical images (#15 and #16), however, offer a different experience. They appear to me as if "inside views" of the snow itself. For example, Image #16 is like seeing a snowflake viewed through a microscope. The image clearly unveils the crystalline-geometrical-symmetrical structure of frozen water. The image also reminds me of a hub or a wheel with spokes radiating out from its center of stillness. In this regard, the image reminds me of the sacred words placed over the entrance to the Nityananda Temple:
The Heart is the hub of all sacred spaces.
Go there and roam.
____________________________________
Image #12 straight photograph
Image #15 symmetrical photograph
The other symmetrical photograph, #15, is a more ephemeral, atmospheric image. It suggests to me a luminous "snow angel" or perhaps an other-worldly "snow flower." The "angelic" quality of the image has reminded me of my two earlier "angel" projects; I invite you to check them out. (Visit The Angels [a multi-chaptered project] and the Snow Angels project.) The notion of a "snow flower" was invoked by a quote I have just read by Swami Muktananda which I have presented, below, in my Epilogue.
The two symmetrical photographs are especially powerful, evocative images for me; indeed both are more powerful for me than the straight photographs I used in the construction of the symmetrical images. The four-fold symmetrical construction process has magically transformed and elevated the straight "source" images to the level of a true, living symbol for me.
The symmetrical images have an inner radiance and a sacred presence that I associate with some mandalas and religious Icons I have seen. Thomas Cheetham has written a fascinating book entitled All the World An Icon: Henry Corbin and the Angelic Function of Beings, and I will close this commentary section with a quote by him which I like very much:
Every creative act comes out of darkness and requires us to stand on the edge of the unknown . . . That place of unknowing is sacred . . . because it entails a willingness to sacrifice who we think we are and what we think we know . . . Every creative act is a prayer born of love and longing . . . Henry Corbin teaches us that "prayer is not a request for something: it is the expression of a mode of being, a means of existing and of causing to exist." It is the attempt to fill that pregnant darkness. Corbin says "Prayer is the highest form, the supreme act of the Creative Imagination." Longing and nostalgia are the energy . . . of prayer--they draw the soul through the darkness and toward the flame. (Note: see my project The Photograph as ICON.)
Epilogue
____________________
In the live-stream video programs with Gurumayi which I wrote about earlier, she did speak about being "like an angel" in this trying time when there is such a great need for people to be loving, caring, respectful and protective toward each other. And I was deeply moved by the intense and forceful way she talked about "taking responsibility." (In fact it seemed as if she were talking directly to me (probably because of the way I have been falling into fear recently when I listen to the news updates about the pandemic). The energy in Gurumayi's words set off in me several spontaneous contemplations regarding her teachings on responsibility. I will share with you a brief summarization of the essential ideas which I received from her teachings:
Blaming someone, or something else for whatever is happening in your world right now is NOT taking responsibility. Take responsibly now! Act in whatever way is appropriate for you and your situation so that you can take responsibility for what you are feeling and thinking, and for what you are doing and not doing. ~ "Remember" (Gurumayi said), "responsibility is your response to your ability. Take pride in what you have, in your capabilities." (Note: the quotation by Gurumayi was taken from the Siddha Yoga Website, in the "Be in the Temple Teachings" section. See the program notes entitled "Be Responsible." All italicized words are mine.)
It was shortly after those contemplations that I got the idea of making some symmetrical photographs for this project. After I made the two images presented and discussed above, I decided to try making a few more. I made eight symmetrical images in total, but I felt it best to include only the first two in this project. However I did glean from the process of making all eight of them an idea for a new project. (Note: I intend to publish the remaining six symmetrical images--and many more--in a future project. You can watch for my announcements of all of my new projects in the "Most Recently Added Projects" section at the very top of my blog's Welcome Page.)
*
For the past several weeks I have been re-reading (yet again) The Splendor of Recognition, a wonderful book authored by a beloved Siddha Yoga Teacher, Swami Shantananda. And I came upon a quote recently, by Swami Muktananda (taken from his book From the Finite to the Infinite) that was particularly meaningful for me in relationship to Gurumayi's teachings on responsibility. His words have also illuminated some of the thoughts and feelings I've been experiencing in relation to several of the snow photographs in this project, particularly the symmetrical Image #15. Thus I am concluding this project with the quote by Muktananda, and
then the symmetrical image:
God has granted me the vision by which I see everything with a slightly bluish tinge.
In India there is a plant that grows wild in the field, and it produces small, light
blue flowers. That is the color of my eyes. In the scriptures this is called the
the lotion of Consciousness. Tukaram Maharaj said that when this
lotion of Consciousness was applied to his eyes, he could really
see. First his vision was limited, then it expanded. When it
expanded he could not see the world as world any longer.
He could not see people as sinners or as wicked;
he could see only God's light everywhere, and
everyone appeared to him to be the
light of God.
Swami Muktananda, as quoted by Swami Shantananda in his book
The Splendor of Recognition, in the chapter on Sutra 19
Image #15, symmetrical photograph
Note: if you find the quote above by Swami Muktananda interesting,
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This project was announced on my blog's
Related Project Links:
The Blue Pearl
The Photograph as ICON
The Straight Photograph and the Symmetrical Constructions
The Contemplation of Symbolic Photographs
Visit the Welcome Page to my Departing Landscape photography blog which includes the complete listing of my online photography projects dating back to the 1960's, my resume, contact information, and much much more.
The Photograph as ICON
The Straight Photograph and the Symmetrical Constructions
The Contemplation of Symbolic Photographs
Visit the Welcome Page to my Departing Landscape photography blog which includes the complete listing of my online photography projects dating back to the 1960's, my resume, contact information, and much much more.
