It Begins in the Heart

I’ve been pondering creative acts. Where do they come from? How and why do artists choose their subject matter? What moves people to create? I’ve come to a conclusion. Art that matters, touches and moves people,

It Begins in the Heart.

I photograph what has heart and meaning to me. We are all artists in one way or another, creating and weaving a life of meaning. And I believe that the more that we listen to our hearts, the more we create art that can touch others in their hearts. Also, the more that we listen to our own hearts, the more joy we can experience in our lives.

How do my photography projects start? Why do I choose certain subjects? I’m still not totally sure. But I do know for me, I could not devote the time nor immerse myself in a topic that doesn’t begin in my heart. The photographer Ralph Steiner told me that a photographer’s cable release begins in the heart and ends on the shutter button, and the photographer Sebastião Salgado informed me that photographs are given, not taken, and that gift must be earned.

—David Scheinbaum, Lenscratch Post

Over the years I’ve tried many different types of photography, including portrait, still life, street, architecture, wildlife, travel, landscape, and more. But if you look through my tens of thousands of photographs you will find many more photographs of trees, flowers, gardens, and tiny elements of grace in the landscape than anything else. You won’t find many portraits, grand landscapes, city scenes, architecture, or still life photos. That is because I photograph what speaks to my heart.

Elements of Grace

The trees, flowers, and tiny elements of grace that I see fill my heart with joy, beauty, and gratitude. I long to share those feelings with others. So I photograph these small scenes of grace and beauty. The photos in today’s post are an exception because I intentionally went to photograph the Memorial Chapel at Lakewood Cemetery for a photo club topic (arches).

My photographs are also shaped by my physical abilities and limitations. Though I might wish to spend long hours hiking and photographing in wild areas and to travel the world photographing, the reality is that I cannot do so. We are all shaped by our bodies and minds as well as our souls. They are part of the wholeness that expresses itself uniquely for each being. That means that our art is shaped by our whole self, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

I want to write something so simply about love or about pain that even as you are reading you feel it and as you read you keep feeling it and though it be my story it will be common, though it be singular it will be known to you so that by the end you will think— no, you will realize— that it was all the while yourself arranging the words, that it was all the time words that you yourself, out of your heart had been saying.

— Mary Oliver

Some photographers are fascinated with photographing people. And they are wonderful at bringing out the inner souls of those they photograph. I am convinced that this too begins in the heart.

No matter what you create, if it begins with your heart, I think that it’s art. I have a friend who loves to entertain. She creates wondrous meals and events that are filled with heart and soul. That is art. Others I know write, create gardens, knit, and sew. All are artists in their own way.

What will you create today? Remember, it begins in the heart.

May you walk in beauty.

Note: This morning I went to the Memorial Chapel at Lakewood Cemetery to photograph it’s magnificent Byzantine mosaic art, stained glass windows, arches, and more. It’s mosaics contain more than 10 million tesserae (mosaic pieces) made from marble, colored stone, and glass fused with gold and silver! What a beautiful space! Imagine the skill and artistry needed to create these beautiful mosaics.