artist entry: week 06: october 04

Matthieu Ricard: photography: looking within, looking without on happiness

interest and relations:
I found Ricard through TEDTalks. It was first listening to his words and ideas that made me more interested in his photographic work. It was powerful to feel those inspirational words that were carried through in his images. I felt the rawness, the happiness he spoke of. The unexpectedness of happiness to come out of nowhere if your mind is not settled and determined to feeling it; that is when it comes to you. However there was a sadness that emitted from his imagery. I felt as if the happy moment capture in the image is not pressed into this flat two dimensional image, a memory that has already long be logged into the brain somewhere deep inside. After hearing his talk, I wanted so eagerly to feel all those feelings through his image. There was a richness to them, but they also feel a whole world apart from the now and here, and it becomes a disappointment because those desired feelings are un-graspable.

biography:
"Matthieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk, an author, translator, and photographer. He has lived, studied, and worked in the Himalayan region for over forty years.

The son of French philosopher Jean-François Revel and artist Yahne Le Toumelin, Matthieu was born in France in 1946 and grew up among the personalities and ideas of Paris’ intellectual and artistic circles. He earned a Ph.D. degree in cell genetics at the renowned Institut Pasteur under the Nobel Laureate Francois Jacob. In 1967, he traveled to India to meet great spiritual masters from Tibet."

quotes:
"While everyone wants to be happy..there's a big difference between aspiration and achievement. That is the tradgedy of human beings. We fear misery but run to it. We want happiness but turn away from it. The very means used to ease suffering often fuel it. How could such a misjudgement occur? Because we are confused about how to go about it.We look for happiness outside ourselves when it is basically an inner state of being. If it were an exterior condition it would be forever beyond our reach."

"We are all a mixture of light and shadow, strengths and weaknesses. Our mind can be our best friend, and our worst enemy. But this state of affairs is neither optimal nor inevitable. Each of us has the potential to free our self from mental states that cause suffering for ourselves and others, to find inner peace and to contribute to the well-being of others. But just wishing for this is not enough. We need to train our minds."

images:


review, artist & gallery link:
http://www.matthieuricard.org/en/index.php/index/
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/matthieu_ricard_on_the_habits_of_happiness.html