Doors open at 6:00 p.m., program at 6:30 p.m.
This illustrated presentation by Dr. Paul M Pearson, Director and Archivist, Thomas Merton Center, Bellarmine will explore Merton’s use of the medium of photography in the 1960’s as a means to awaken us to contemplation, mindfulness and peace.
Dr. Pearson explains, “In facing the world of the nineteen sixties Thomas Merton searched for a new voice to break through the ‘emptiness and blindness of the heart of men who have gone crazy with their love for money and power and with pride in their technology.’
One manifestation of Merton’s new voice was though his photography and calligraphies. As the sixties saw Merton writing voraciously on issues of war and peace, nuclear disarmament, civil rights, environmental concerns, and a whole myriad of other social issues so he also turned his hand to photography as another way for him to explore and express his relationship with the world. As he discovered contemplative photography, coining the phrase “Zen photography,” and as he learned to use his camera as a contemplative instrument, he produced images which can cause us to pause, to stop, to learn to see, to see with new eyes what is right in front of us every day.
Cash bar. Limited seating.