Retired government economist, living in Ottawa, Canada. A course in Miksang photography given by the Shambhala Meditation Centre of Ottawa opened my mind to meditative-contemplative photography. I am naturally attracted to minimalism, contemplative photography and the simpler ways of seeing suggested by Zen, Buddhism and Japanese Wabi Sabi. I learn the most from workshops with photography masters. To date, I have taken courses with Freeman Patterson, André Gallant, George DeWolfe, Ray Fernando,Tony Sweet and Richard Martin. My models for landscape photography are generally British photographers who use blur, soft focus, light palettes and minimalism, notably Charlie Waite and Bruce Percy.

We have been conditioned for centuries to believe that art is there to copy nature. But, surely, that is a misunderstanding of what art is and I agree with Oscar Wilde that ''nature should resemble art, not art resemble nature". I think that explains why, contrary to popular belief, artists draw their inspiration much more from other artists than from nature itself. Most recently, I am exploring the use of blur (via post-processing or intentional camera movement) to produce more "painterly" photos.

I keep a more selective set of my favourite images on

www.flickr.com/photos/karlmarx1/albums

My photo slideshows are on www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ1HHeJufnNBYmxpM9R8TXg