Think of all the years you’ve wanted to immerse yourself in the study of a particular subject and all the reasons we give ourselves not to full fill those desires or ambitions. Well that was me with the degree in photography for many years. Not that I have been wasting my time at all.
In my 46 years on this planet I have accomplished quite a bit and at the same time nothing extraordinary. At 20 I lived in Sweden for two years and trained as a physical therapist. At 24 I got involved seriously with Buddhist teaching and practice. At 34 after many years of training I was ordained a Buddhist and given the name Sadhita. For the course I use my worldly name, Steve because using my buddhist name is somewhat out of context within the student realm. To say that Buddhism has altered or shaped my life would be a gross understatement. It has radically transformed my life and my vision of life.
I have a deep gratitude to my teacher, Urgyen Sangharakshita, who has always encouraged the active exploration and practice of the arts in all of their forms as a medium of human development (the mind). I therefore feel that I owe it to him to say thanks for the inspiration to deepen and fulfil my potential, as a human being, artist, photographer or…perhaps doing away with all labels and concepts and calling myself just a person on the path of development.
What I am aiming at in my studies is primarily of artistic interest not commercial although, a commercial or professional motive is also there. My main interest is in communicating values or stimulating thought through conceptual photography or narrative. The likes of Sebastian Salgado, Jeff Wall, Duane Michals and William Eggleston are among my heroes of photography but this is only naming a few.
For me photography is both deadly serious and incredibly playful all in the same step. I look forward to getting to know some of the students in the OCA community and sharing intellectually stimulating ideas, and points of view as well as experience with the camera on the job.
My previous course work at foundation level can be seen here:
OCA log level 1 Photography 