In this first book to explore photography as a spiritual practice from a Christian perspective, Christine Valters Paintner builds on the process of contemplative creativity she introduced online at Abbey of the Arts and in her book The Artists Rule. She considers how a camera can help readers open the eyes of the heart.
More than a book on photographic technique, Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice is about cultivating photography as a spiritual practice. Adapting the monastic practice of lectio divina (sacred reading) into a form of visio divina (sacred seeing), spiritual director and Benedictine oblate Christine Valters Paintner invites readers to a new way of viewing the worldthrough the lens of a camera.
Paintner guides readers through six themes connecting the medium of photography with the Christian spiritual life. Each theme provides a photographic journey in which the reader does not simply take images, but receives images and learns to see with the eyes of the heart (Eph 1:18).
Photos by the author are included.

Christine Valters Paintner

Notre Dame, Ind.: Sorin Books

United States, United States of America

Notre Dame, cop. 2013

4/30/13, 2013-04-22

4/30/13, PS, 2013

Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-143).

This is not a book about photographic technique: rather, it is about cultivating photography as a spiritual practice. Adapting the monastic practice of lectio divina (sacred reading) into a form of visio divina (sacred seeing), spiritual director and Benedictine oblate Christine Valters Paintner invites readers to a new way of viewing the worldthrough the lens of a camera. Drawing on the Christian tradition of the spiritual senses, Paintner guides readers through six themes connecting the medium of photography with the Christian spiritual life. Each theme provides a photographic journey in which the reader does not simply take images, but receives images. Readers are prompted to engage what St. Paul describes as the eyes of the heart (Eph 1:18) and understand how through photography, they can see the world around them more deeply and discover anew their own spiritual capacity

143 p. : 23 cm
Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-143)
Seeing with eyes of the heart -- Practices and tools to cultivate vision -- Dance of light and shadow -- What is hidden and what is revealed? -- Symbolic significance of color -- What is mirrored back? -- Discovering the holy within us -- Seeing the holy everywhere

Paintner adapts the monastic practice of lectio divina (sacred reading) into a form of visio divina (sacred seeing). A spiritual director and Benedictine oblate, she guides readers through a new way of spiritual observation--through the lens of a camera--and in receiving images, not simply taking them. (back cover)

2024-07-01