What is the difference between looking and seeing

There is a great difference. Looking means you are loo- king for something; you already have some idea to look for. Looking is already prejudiced. A person who is looking for truth will never find it because his eyes are already corrupted; he already has a fixed concept.

He is not open. If you have come to me to look for something, then you already have an idea — you will miss me. Then whatsoever I say, you will interpret according to your idea; and it will not be my meaning, it will be your meaning. It defines the photographer, just as training and commitment define the difference between the Olympic athlete and the park runner.

We can all look, but we have to learn to see. The photographer that wishes to make work that expresses more than surface aesthetics needs to understand the difference between these two actions and more importantly implement their understanding into their images. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.

Learn how your comment data is processed. Skip to content Search for: Search Close. Like this: Like Loading We go on autopilot drawing our preconceived archetype of what a sole looks like, and laces, etc. This process causes us to overlook many of the relationships between those elements and the nuances which are the hallmarks of the reality of that object.

Unbeknownst to most of us, our human brains add overlays of assumptions, biases and subjective interpretations to every fragment of information our senses input to them. This active filtering and manipulation can substantially alter our perception and understanding of the reality which surrounds us. A confirmation of this interference is evident in the common phenomenon where different people experiencing a similar event will later express conflicting recollections of details: how many people were involved, who acted first, colors of clothing, etc.

That is a small glimpse at the shenanigans our brains play on us constantly. And so, it is with creative people whose natural mode is filtering the world through artistic expression and sharing the result with an audience. I have no doubt that those unconscious mental biases can add an element of unique stylistic perspective to our creative voice. But we are not the intentional authors of that addition.

For many people who do not believe they have artistic talent, it is not their fundamental creative and expressive potential that is thwarting their hopes nearly so much as this interference in their ability to perceive. How well we are able to actually see the world around us is the first link in the creative process; but if our brain involves itself in what we are allowed to perceive that becomes a second, albeit unintentional one.

Choosing to learn to take control of how we see requires challenging ourselves from moment to moment. If we are not intentional about it, we will always lapse into the default mode with the brain taking control. They do not originate from me, and if I give them too much precedence, I undermine the authenticity of my own voice. For this reason, my favorite way to discover inspiration for lighting and framing ideas is to actively perceive the world around me as I move through life.

These moments and perspectives are uniquely and forever my own, my private glimpses shared with no one else. In those moments I make myself open, objectively asking the tableau to teach me. I walk into a room, and I see beautiful light pouring through a window highlighting the people inside. Where is that light coming from? What physical objects are shaping it? What materials are filtering it and creating textures in it? I will walk to the window to see the angle the source is coming from, the shape of the window, the type of window covering.

Is there a tree with leaves outside at a distance breaking up the light? Maybe light is filtering into a room and bouncing off surfaces. What is the direction of that light? What is the orientation of that bounce to the subject I see being beautifully lit?

Is the bounce surface imparting a color to the light? What is the atmosphere in the room like? If I am walking on a street at night, I pay attention to the effects of the streetlights, moving car lights, illuminated signs and marquees on stores, reflections, bounces and ambience, etc. He was about to say something he wanted me to remember. Use your eyes , he said. This moment with my dad resurfaced in my memory recently, when I ended up visiting the Courtauld collection at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, twice.

The first visit was for looking. This wonderful collection of impressionist paintings filled me up with joy, and I was almost out of breath as I finished the galleries and walked out to the rooftop, flying on a concrete sailboat in the sky. The feeling of the collection lingered a bit, but a few days later, I had completely forgotten about it. A month later, I had friends visiting me in Paris. When talking about what they could do during their stay, we stumbled upon the same exhibition.

I enthusiastically went with them to visit it a second time. The second visit was for seeing. I stood in front of each painting and allowed myself to be tightly surrounded by the many tourists and art enthusiasts of Paris.