Photography as Meditation: Tap Into the Source of Your Creativity

For many people, photography serves as a form of meditation; a way to separate themselves from their stressful lives. In this book, Torsten Andreas Hoffmann explores an approach to artistic photography based on Japanese Zen-Philosophy.

Meditation and photography have much in common: both are based in the present moment, both require complete focus, and both are most successful when the mind is free from distracting thoughts. Hoffman shows how meditation can lead to the source of inspiration.

Hoffman's impressive images of landscapes, cities, people, and nature, as well as his smart image analysis and suggestions about the artistic process, will help you understand this approach to photography without abandoning the principles of design necessary to achieve great images. Photographing busy scenes, especially, requires an inner calm that enables you to have intuition for the right moment and compose a well-balanced image amidst the chaos.

The goal of this book is to develop your photographic expression. It provides enrichment for photographers who believe that only technical mastery produces great images and shows how important it is to engage with your own awareness to act creatively.

Torsten Andreas Hoffmann is a photographer, author, and photography workshop instructor. He specializes in black and white photography and conceptual photography. Since 2003, he's written articles for Photographie, LFI (Leica Fotografie International), c't special Digitale Fotografie, and Digitalis Foto (Hungary). In his workshops, he guides his participants toward understanding and accessing their own visual aesthetic.

Hoffman is internationally known for his coffee table book, New York, New York, a subtle debate on the events of 9/11; published by Kunstverlag Weingarten. Another of his titles, The Art of Black and White Photography, published by Rocky Nook, is already in its 2nd edition. Hoffman also publishes art calendars with publisher Kunstverlag Weingarten, Dumont, and ars vivendi.

Born in Duesseldorf, Germany, in 1956, Hoffmann studied Art Education with a concentration in photography at The Braunschweig University of Art. His images can be seen in many exhibitions at renowned galleries such as: Leica Galleries, Salzburg and Frankfurt, and imago-fotokunst, Berlin. He is a member of BBK Frankfurt, LOOK photo agency Munich, and the German Society of Photography (DPPh).