Cambridge Open Studios: Buddhist meditation helped me become a better photographer

Becoming a Buddhist showed a photographer who is taking part in Cambridge Open Studios a new way to approach his art.

Jeremy Peters is a professional photographer, but after spending years learning how to meditate he now looks for beauty in unexpected places and tries to reflect this attitude in his art.

He said: “Becoming a Buddhist transformed my life and therefore my photography and I feel more open to what’s in my mind. So, if I see something beautiful its because I'm not worried about the future or the past - im more likely to be in the present moment.

“I have a slightly more curious and open minded perspective of the world and seeing the beauty in the ordinary.

If I see something I might have a flash of perception that I wasn't really looking for, so while im out and about and something that looks beautiful to me in terms of the shapes and patterns and colours and textures I try to capture that on my camera.”

His pictures include sunlight falling on a stone staircase, a flower poking through a crack in wooden boards, raindrops on a window and a bike whizzing over a bridge.

Jeremy will be exhibiting his photography at the Cambridge Buddhist centre along with three other Buddhists, Vilokini Gail Abbott, Ian Collins, and Imogen Tennison.

Their show is called Awareness Through The Lens. Jeremy explains: “It's about capturing the reality of life just through awareness rather than a particular subject. It is based on our practice of meditation."

See the exhibition at Cambridge Buddhist Centre on Newmarket Road this weekend (July 13/14). Visit camopenstudios.co.uk for more details.