Eyes of the Heart in Photography

Last updated on: May 14, 2013 at 6:57 am by Guest Contributor

Eyes of the Heart in Photography 2013-05-14T06:57:14-06:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Review of Eyes of the Heart by Christine Valters Paintner

By JENNY BOSAK

Eyes of the Heart, by Christine Valters Paintner, is about using photography to see images with the heart, rather than just “seeing” them in a technical sense. As a professional photographer, I was very interested in reading how I could both better my creative view of my work and also draw closer through photography to my Great Creator who lovingly put all things on this earth for us to enjoy.

I had a shoot the very evening I started reading. I was impressed with the beginning and looking forward to delving further into the book. And yet in the end it wasn’t as good as the opening promised. As a photographer, the book inspired me to take a deeper and different perspective on the world around me. However, as a Christian I thought the book wasn’t the Gospel-centered devotional I was hoping for.

The author does a good job of opening the reader’s eyes to see things differently. Paintner encourages you to take out your camera and shoot what inspires you. One thing Paintner pointed out was that you don’t need a professional, high-quality camera and lens to take pictures of the things you like. I agree with this, since I often don’t feel like lugging around my big camera. Instead, I’ll opt for my iPhone and then use the various apps to edit the image.

I also appreciated Paintner’s encouragement to go for a walk on a “Photographic Exploration” after each chapter. On this exploration walk, you were told to find and shoot images that were talked about in the chapters. She taught you how to engage your eyes to see things that you normally wouldn’t—such as how the light constantly changes shape or how it bounces off objects to cast light on a wall (which makes for a softer, different kind of light). She further encourages you to actually notice the world around you in a poetic way, rather than just a technical one. The photo walks were a great way to encourage new (and old) photographers to absorb the theme of each chapter of the book.

For all the good photography advise, from a Christian perspective the “spiritual advice” seemed to me to be more of a “meditative-yoga-breath in the good/out the bad” kind of spirituality. For example, she regularly mentions taking a moment before going on your Photographic Exploration to center yourself by breathing in and out in a meditative way. What I rarely found was Scripture that pointed me to a loving Creator, and how the Gospel of Jesus plays out in his creation. She tells the reader to use photography to take a deeper look into one’s self. She doesn’t point the reader to Scripture or to how a loving Creator has made all things for his glory and our enjoyment. (Though again, the introduction was encouraging, as was chapter 8.)

At the beginning of each chapter, Paintner would provide a few inspirational quotes (mostly from poets). She did include a few verses from the Bible, but some of them seemed to have been taken out of context. I would have liked to see more Scripture in the book as well as a discussion of how God put all things into being. For example, I would’ve taken verses from the Psalms because the author, David, was an emotional man who used his artistry to meditate on both his sinfulness and the hope that is to come through Jesus Christ.

She also provided reflection questions at the end of each chapter. The questions were mostly self-centered. While there were some great questions about photography skills and how to put the exploration walks into practice, generally I did not find the questions to be looking outward to Christ or to Scripture. So I wouldn’t recommend it to those who want to draw closer to Jesus because there wasn’t much Gospel “meat” in the book. This would, however, be a good source for a group of photographers looking to build their creative eye in a poetic way. I was certainly more encouraged as a photographer than I was as a Christian.

This book was provided for free by the publisher on the condition that I review it. I was not required to write a positive review.

Books

Christian

Non-Fiction

Christine Valters Paintner

Previous Post

May 13, 2013

Classical Christian Doctrine sets the record straight on patristic theology

Next Post

May 15, 2013 Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church (and why they need each other)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet predicted that Gentiles would become God's people along with Israel?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ezekiel Jonah Micah Hosea