Have we ever experienced pictures that turn out absolutely glorious when we simply pressed the shutter without any expectation or thinking? Have we ever been blown away by the deep beauty we see in ourselves when we were not intentionally posing to be photographed?

Working in the image industry, I have frequently experienced this. There are many moments when I simply felt impulsed to press the shutter of a camera without even seeing exactly what was in my viewfinder. Something was calling me to simply receive what was being offered. When I looked at these pictures, my heart skipped a beat, not only because the glory was physically visible, but also because the harmony captured was deeply palpable.

Working with my phone camera this way for many years, I have come to realise that pictures call out to be received. Divinity presents itself all around us, all of the time, and it is up to us to register it, to feel the call and not hold back in receiving it and allowing it to be expressed through us.

This is the only way I feel true pictures are created – to express what is Truth.

A true image is formulated only when everything aligns at one single moment, and after that moment, something else is already formulating. No images can be held onto when they are true because we, nature and everything are constantly changing from moment to moment.

By contrast, in the image industry we are constantly trying to re-create images – we regurgitate images and seek a perfection based on images. However, when we hold onto any images, this act is already not aligned to the natural movement that our bodies feel, which is simply to receive what is being presented in that moment. For when we expect something to be only a certain way then we are allowed to only see what our mental expectation permits. But seeing is receiving, and what we are receiving every moment is an opportunity to evolve.

Images are truly successful only when they allow us to let go of, rather than further cement, preconceived ideals and beliefs.

I have observed that the way to work with images is to be image-free within ourselves; not by controlling our thoughts that having images is bad, but by the choices we make every day to free ourselves from the big daddy of images, the ideals and beliefs we have accepted in life.

If we prepare ourselves every day by connecting to ourselves and being true, a freedom and truth will be expressed, simply by receiving the truth that comes through us. As everything is complete once it is expressed, there is no attachment to any image we capture, portray and/or share. This then leaves us free to express the next Divine image that is already coming.

If we are honest, we can all feel Truth, which is one and the same for all. This realisation in relation to working in the image industry is also a truth for any industry and life in general because it is only when our preconceived attachments to what we are looking for subside that we get to truly express as ourselves.

By Adele Leung, Fashion Stylist, writer, photographer, model, presenter, Hong Kong

Further Reading:
Truth
Having my Photo Taken – Seeing the Real Me
What does it Mean – ‘Holding Onto’?