Photography is a meditative pathway. I have been a professional photographer for twenty years and I didn´t realize this premise until I started making ceramics and I saw how similar they both are.

Meditation, photography and handcrafted ceramics have much in common: all are based on being in the present moment, they require concentration and focus, and they work better when you clear your mind from distracting thoughts.

Working with clay is a tactile experience that forces you to go slow, to wait for days for the piece to dry, to treat it with care. It literally connects you to the earth, touching it, creating form with your hands.

Photography is either waiting for the perfect moment or catching it while being alert;  sometimes you have to wait for that moment for hours without moving, and sometimes you have to wander with an open mind for hours, days or years connecting yourself with the present moment, with the world and with the earth. Both are visual arts that can be functional or purely artistic and can open your mind to beauty and emotion.

We are in the new age of ceramics. Now it´s fashionable; they call it ¨the new yoga¨. Just like me, many people are finding out that it calms you and develops the creative side we all have. You can find ceramic classes in every city. But be careful, it´s addictive and you can end up installing an oven in your house, just like I did.

Photography, on the other hand, has been popular for many years, but now there is also a new age of photography.  Technology has become accessible to everyone. Mobile cameras, Photoshop and Instagram have made every citizen a photographer. I´m sure many of you know how addictive it can be.

Every time I enter Instagram I´m amazed at how many beautiful photographs I see. So many people are looking outside, clearing their minds, waiting for that perfect moment to share it afterwards - it´s truly inspirational.

Posted by Ima Garmendia on March 8, 2018