Mary Sherman - Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

I love writing and making images. It’s taken me 54 years to figure this one out. In my twenties I had a beautiful Nikon SLR. I took classes and worked in the darkroom, but I was claustrophobic and the smell of the chemicals in a small, confined area didn’t work for me.  So, I sold the camera to help pay my way to India and live in an ashram for three months.

In my mid forties, I decided that I wanted to go to college. I signed up for prerequisites at our community college. Nursing led to culinary arts that led to interior design and finally, ahh…there it was, media arts. It encompassed my love of creating images and writing. What I also discovered is that I love the process of things. What happens inside of me when I’m making the image, how do the characters and ideas for a story or essay spring to life?

I happened upon a system of taking photographs called Miksang (Tibetan for “good eye”), by Michael Wood, who had been a long time practitioner of Chogyum Trungpa Rinpoche. This idea of contemplative photography  merged organically with my spiritual make up and understanding; the pure, simple act of being mindful and present when taking the picture; taking a breath before pressing the shutter.

I have a wonderful “point and shoot”, Lumix FZ35 that I can turn completely automatic when I wish. I love using my new iPhone as a camera as well. The spontaneity and creativity it affords me are wide open! I also enjoy creating slideshows with my images and choosing the perfect piece of music to accompany it.

The most important thing for me now is that I am having fun, and creating something unique that I want to share. I want to do more writing and generate stories that bubble up from inside when I look at an image I’ve created. Or the opposite, where I do have an idea for a story and then go out into the world and create the images.

That’s it- joy, fun and being present. It makes for a good life!