A photograph is an invitation to look - and to look at looking. John Paul Caponigro More Quotes by John Paul Caponigro More Quotes From John Paul Caponigro We are the strongest filter we can place before the lens. We point the lens both outward and inward. John Paul Caponigro inward filters lenses We're responsible for everything that's included in the frame. We're also responsible for what's not included in the frame. We're responsible for the way we frame the world. John Paul Caponigro photographer way world Many oriental cultures make a distinction between two ways of looking - 'hard eyes' and 'soft eyes'. When we look with hard eyes, we see specific details with sharp focus, but we don't see the relationships between different details as well. When we look with soft eyes we see the relationships between everything in our field of vision, but with this softer focus, we don't see all the details as clearly. It's possible to look in two ways at once. John Paul Caponigro focus eye two What we see changes what we know. What we know changes what we see. Perception, belief, action, and change are codependent. John Paul Caponigro perception change belief Visual artists choreograph dances for the eyes, guiding visual journeys in specific ways. But when presented with little or nothing, the journeys of the eyes become erratic and finally still their restless searching. The eye and mind and heart grow quiet, come to rest, and begin to understand their own functioning more deeply. John Paul Caponigro eye journey heart It's important that we regularly reconsider, revise, and expand our practices, as our capabilities and needs evolve, both to strengthen our understanding of them and to promote our awareness of new practices and their conscientious uses. John Paul Caponigro understanding important practice Mysterious spaces cause us to turn inward. Amid a rich upwelling of association, we encounter many aspects of ourselves. As we grow still, we come in contact with a unified, empty, yet full ground of our being. As our consciousness grows more spacious, we find connections between us and the wider world, a shared greater reality. John Paul Caponigro inward space reality We talk about the vulnerability involved in sharing our work publicly. I don't think we talk enough about the real vulnerability involved in making art; if we truly engage the process we are changed by it. John Paul Caponigro real art thinking Less information often leads to more interpretation. John Paul Caponigro interpretation information It's one thing to make a beautiful thing; it's another thing to make a living thing. John Paul Caponigro living-things photographer beautiful Art is a journey of discovery. John Paul Caponigro journey discovery art All photographs are about light. The great majority of photographs record light as a way of describing objects in space. A few photographs are less about objects and more about the space that contains them. Still fewer photographs are about light itself. John Paul Caponigro majority space light Surfaces simultaneously reveal and conceal. John Paul Caponigro surface photographer Color is a powerful physical, biological, and psychological force. John Paul Caponigro psychological color powerful We see the world through our experience. John Paul Caponigro photographer world Images are altered in many ways, to many degrees, and for many reasons, so it's important for viewers to be informed of both. John Paul Caponigro degrees important way Every photograph is altered, to one degree or another. John Paul Caponigro degrees photograph photographer Surprisingly, Gestalt psychologists have found that when subjected to Ganz fields for long periods of time, we hallucinate. Can empty fields serve as mirrors, not for our exteriors, but for our interiors? John Paul Caponigro gestalt mirrors long Don't ask 'Should I ...?'. Instead, 'Ask what happens if I ...?' John Paul Caponigro photographer should happens The most important question is, 'Am I asking the most important question?' The second most important question is, 'Am I asking the most important question in the most important way?' John Paul Caponigro important asking way
