INTERVIEW: Andy J. Lindley

Andy J. Lindley discusses his new book Letting Photos Speak: Visio Divina and other approaches to contemplative photography, co-authored with Stephen J. Radley and Philip J. Richter …

Being a photographer yourself, roughly what proportion of your own images are taken with a camera and what proportion with a smartphone?

For me, the framing of a photo is pretty important.  I use a DSLR with an 18-300mm lens most of the time, which takes me from a fairly wide-angle shot to a pretty high level of zoom.  For wildlife, whether that be tiny insects or distant birds or animals the zoom is essential.  I’ve rarely managed to get an acceptable shot with a phone camera, despite them having some level of zoom.  For a macro view, however, a smartphone is brilliant.  It also lends itself to shots from unusual angles, such as looking from the earth, up through the petals of a snowdrop flower, and frankly, for wide angle shots, it is often simpler than my camera, although I quite often then have to crop the photo after the fact in my editing software.   Both, have advantages, therefore, as tools for framing, or taking a different perspective on the ordinary and both, therefore, open my eyes to the world.   Of course, weight, practicality and the sheer on-hand nature of my smartphone come into it.  I guess if I were putting a figure to it, then it's probably 80% camera and 20% smartphone, but the latter is growing.

Are smartphones more about diarising our own lives, i.e. the self, or devices that can open our eyes to the world around us, and others?

This for me links into the previous question.  I predominantly use my smartphone to capture precious moments with family, and daily life.  Occasionally, it is to capture something that has grabbed my attention or speaks to me, but primarily it is in this responsive ad-hoc mode.  When I take out my DSLR, however, I’m in a different mode, one of expectancy, and openness.  That’s obviously a matter of habit, in the same way, as wearing a work suit, you are in a different mode to when you wear casual clothes.  It’s not that the clothes constrain us in any real way, more they are a tool to help us switch modes, but as such they then become psychologically wedded to our way of being.   My children, I suspect, who have used smartphones as their cameras from the very beginning have no such limitations and use them for both active and passive seeing.

Where do you find your inspiration to take photos?

The natural world is my primary inspiration.  I love getting out onto the hills, and wide-open spaces, Scotland, particularly.  I love capturing wildlife, although as I’m generally with others, rarely have the time to hang around in hides, or patiently wait for the perfect shot, so it's more those joyful fleeting moments of stumbling upon something.  I’m also drawn to patterns and textures and geometric forms, which perhaps were never intended to be such, but seem like sculptures or pieces of art.  Having said that, it is a mindset, and setting myself the challenge of allowing God to speak to me through what I see, then any environment can be a stimulating one. I remember a day wandering around the streets of one of my churches, taking a number of photographs that really spoke to me about my ministry, and my faith at that time. The shots aren’t as beautiful, but they serve a different purpose for me, and looking back on them, I recall the thoughts and the feelings they evoke.

How does your faith or Christian background influence the way you take your photographs – in terms of both subject and approach?

The mindset is key. If I set out with my camera, seeking God to direct my gaze and speak to me through what I see, then the activity is like an ongoing prayer exercise, where I dialogue with God.  Other times, I’m seeking to capture the beauty of the place I am in, and my camera enhances that experience, leading me to see more deeply, and appreciate God’s creation.  Sometimes, I am weighing a passage, preparing for a sermon, and looking for ways perhaps to illustrate it with images, and the photographs I take, lead me deeper into reflection.  It's not just taking photos, though, sometimes searching through other people’s using apps like Pixabay, to create PowerPoint for my services and what pops up on a chosen theme, stimulates a new thought process, and develops my ideas.

Can you briefly explain how visio divina relates to photography?

There is something in the process of framing and capturing a photograph, that automatically causes you to ask questions: ‘What drew you to this scene?’, ‘What is included and excluded?’, ‘What is beautiful?’, ‘What is jarring’?’, ‘What has drawn your attention?’ , ‘Where is your eye led, and why?’.  For me the act of visio divina takes this one step further in asking the Holy Spirit, to enable you to dig deeper and use either the photo or scene before you, to interrogate your thoughts, and feelings.  Then prayerfully allow your mind to be taken to connected ideas, passages, events or experiences digging ever deeper and seeking God’s voice in the process.  You can undertake that with a photograph that someone else has taken, but the process of actively seeking that initial inspiration, and using your camera to seek that image, offers God another route to open that conversation.

In your new book, Letting Photos Speak, you propose a number of practical exercises using photos to help us connect with ourselves, others, nature, and God. How, for instance, might we find beauty in the ordinary and even the apparently ugly?

Our photography church, Divine Focus, recently offered the theme Beautiful Brokenness, and our joint discernment, as we shared, was actually, it is the broken, the damaged and the associated processes that often lead to what we discern as beautiful.   For example, the weathering of a limestone pavement, and the varied colours of tarnished and rusty metalwork.   Sometimes, it has to be sought, by changing perspective, careful framing, or zooming in or out, but it's always there.  The key is to seek it, and that’s what the exercises are about.  Once you have found it, then it continues to be beautiful to you.   We learn to see with God’s eyes.

Is there a difference between Christian contemplation and mindfulness?

A different view of the self distinguishes Christian spirituality from secular mindfulness. Christian contemplation has as its focus a belief that the Holy Spirit will guide our thoughts and emotions and through this our actions. This guidance functions by stilling our minds and helping us notice both what is in front of us and what is within us in the present moment. Secular mindfulness is premised on a similar practice but does not subscribe to the idea that the Holy Spirit guides our actions. Rather, by noticing our emotions and experience in a compassionate moment-by-moment way, our actions to self and others are guided by the enhanced awareness brought by living in the present moment. Christian contemplation is also different insofar as it involves openness to the presence of God directly experienced in one’s soul and even, potentially, union with God; as well as devotion to God and the cultivation of self-transcendence and sacrificial love. We believe it is important to recognise this distinction, but we also believe that mindfulness and the Christian contemplative tradition are closely related and have a broadly similar aim, which is to live life in a fulfilled and compassionate way.

What tips do you have for people reading your book and taking photographs for the first time?

These days getting a good photo in terms of the technical stuff is pretty much handled by our cameras – just set them to auto and let them do their thing!  Don’t worry about whether your shots are beautiful or Instagram-worthy but focus on how they are communicating to you.  How is God speaking to you?  If you aren't finding inspiration yourself, then try one of our exercises. Set out, with a theme, a question, or even a piece of scripture in mind, and seek photographs that seem to resonate with that. 

Andy J. Lindley is a Methodist Minister specialising in pioneer ministry as co-leader of the Kairos Movement.  He has a background as an Optoelectronics engineer and enjoys nature, art and photography.

Letting Photos Speak: Visio Divina and other approaches to contemplative photography by Andy J. Lindley, Philip J. Richter, and Stephen J. Radley is available now in paperback, priced £16.99.