This Practice Group is now closed. Watch for an announcement of a new Contemplative Photographers Group in the summer of 2022.

For the past six years, a community of people at all skill levels have been gathering at SpiritualityandPractice.com to explore contemplative photography together. Participants create photos in response to a weekly theme we provide. The atmosphere is one of acceptance, encouragement, and delight in the wonders that this artistic medium opens for us. Everyone is welcome, whether you've been in the group for years or are just discovering this opportunity today.

Some people started even before the group with a popular Spirituality & Practice E-course, "Photography as a Spiritual Path," presented by award-winning writer, photographer, and multimedia artist Jan Phillips. "It is a great opening when one looks through the lens — a mighty opportunity for a magical exchange,” she writes. That has indeed been the experience in our Contemplative Photographers groups!

This year -- our 7th -- we are going to revisit the themes we suggested in Year 1 and Year 4. In the Practice Group, you can post your own photos, offer supportive feedback for others, and share your insights into how photography enhances your contemplative practice. This gives anyone new to the group a chance to start at the foundation, and it gives everyone who has been faithfully participating a chance to observe how time and circumstances change how we see.

Our weekly emails will include a suggestion of what you might photograph and often a quote to inspire you. Occasionally, we will put out a call for photo submissions for projects on the Spirituality & Practice website. The Practice Group will be largely self-monitoring, with technical support available from S&P.

New this year will be at least two opportunities for the Practice Group to gather on Zoom to talk about their experiences. Do you prepare for a contemplative photography session differently than you do for other times with your camera? What makes the experience contemplative for you? What tips can you offer each other?

We believe this is a marvelous opportunity for community building at S&P, and to encourage deep and growing relationships among the members of the Practice Group, we will open enrollment to new people only twice a year. This way, participants will have six months to get to know each other and each other's photography in a steady way. We hope and expect that most people will choose to remain in the Practice Group community for years.

The first membership enrollment period for Year Seven will be July 24 - September 5, 2021.
The second membership enrollment period will be January 4 - February 6, 2022.

We are charging a membership fee of $52 for the Practice Group. Those who join the group during the second membership enrollment period will pay the same fee, because they will have access in their account at S&P to all the prompts that have been mailed and all the posts in the Practice Group since August.

If you're curious, please check out these galleries created from actual themes/suggestions and particpants offerings:

Contemplative Photography Group Gallery 1 - Contemplative Photographs
Contemplative Photography Group Gallery 2 - Circles, Lines and Curves
Contemplative Photography Group Gallery 3 - Sunrise/Sunset

Contemplative Photography Group Gallery 4 - Confusion or Chaos?
Contemplative Photography Group Gallery 5 - Patterns in Nature
Contemplative Photography Group Gallery 6 - Gateways

To sign up, click on "Subscribe" below.

Sunday, August 8

$52.00

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