---
url: 'https://dri.es/photography-as-meditation'
title: 'Photography as meditation'
author:
  name: 'Dries Buytaert'
  url: 'https://dri.es/about'
date: '2022-02-01T08:39:14-05:00'
license: 'https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/'
type: blog
tags:
  - Photography
  - Boston
image: miscellaneous-2022/phalanx-of-snow-plows
published: true
id: 5296
---

# Photography as meditation

<div class="large">
  [image miscellaneous-2022/phalanx-of-snow-plows]
</div>

I picked up a [Leica M10](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leica_M10) camera a few months ago. I've longed for a Leica camera for many, many years. The moment I finally held it, I knew it was something special.

The Leica M system was introduced in 1954 with the launch of the [Leica M3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leica_M3). Even after nearly 70 years of innovation, the Leica M10 remains a [manual focus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manual_focus) camera with an [optical rangefinder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangefinder_camera). It's beautifully old school.

Some of the first photos I made using my new Leica are photos of [my dad's garage](https://dri.es/in-opa-garage) and [a glacier in Iceland](https://dri.es/into-the-glacier).

A couple of months in, I'm starting to understand why people fall in love with Leica. Thoughts like <q>I may never use my Nikon camera again</q>, have crossed my mind.

What I love about the Leica is that it slows me down while pushing my discipline and technical skill. Because the Leica is a manual camera, you adjust the focus of the lens by hand instead of using auto-focus. And because it is a rangefinder camera, you look next to the lens instead of "through to the lens". It's an acquired skill.

Last weekend, Boston was hit by a major snowstorm: we saw 23 inches (60 cm) of snow in a single day. I went out in the snowstorm with my Leica. Using my camera made me more conscious, and appreciate the small or ordinary things in life. I smiled as I took photos of [people shoveling their sidewalks](/album/miscellaneous-2022/snow-shoveling), and admired [snow plows clearing the streets](/album/miscellaneous-2022/phalanx-of-snow-plows). I would not have appreciated a severe storm the same way without my camera, or when simply snapping pictures with my iPhone.

It's when it finally hit me: *photography can be a meditative experience*.

<div class="side-by-side">
  [image miscellaneous-2022/snow-shoveling]
  [image miscellaneous-2022/snow-pizza]
</div>

PS: I also love that [Leica's website](https://leica-camera.com/) is built on [Drupal 9](https://drupal.org).
