God Is at Eye Level: Photography as a Healing Art [Paperback]

Jan Phillips (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

For amateurs and professionals alike, this book is the story of photography's power to renew the spirit. Jan Phillips helps us transform sight into vision, leading us to see that images can be mirrors for our deepest truths, even in our simple snapshots. "The real thing about photography," Jan says, "is that it brings you home to yourself, connects you to what fulfills your deepest longings. Every step in the process is a step toward the light, an encounter with the God who is at eye level, whose image I see wherever I look. There's something holy about this work. Like the pilgrim's journey; it's heaven all the way."

Editorial Reviews

Review

A masterpiece! Jan Phillips makes the invisible visible and shows, at every level, how we can release the beauty and passion within us. - -- Eryk Hanut, photographer and co-author of Mary's Vineyard and Perfume of the Desert

God Is at Eye Level is a lovely, healing, inspiring experience. -- -- Tee Corinne, Arts Books Editor, Feminist Bookstore News

Jan Phillips brilliantly guides the reader through the steps that must all come together in order to transform an ordinary image into a charged work of art. -- -- Suzi Gablik, author of The Reenchantment of Art and Conversations Before the End of Time

Jan Phillips has made a technical art accessible on the level of the heart and I found her words deeply moving. As a very amateur photographer I feel welcomed back into an art form that has very special qualities as well as challenges. -- -- Pat Allen, author of Art Is a Way of Knowing

Jan Phillips is simply a phenomenon. Her wealth of talent, dead-reckoning honesty, and fearless voice have resulted in a wondrous book that is part photographic exhibit, part memoir, part spiritual teaching and part self-help workshop. -- -- Belleruth Naparstek, author of Your Sixth Sense and creator of Health Journeys

Shining through Jan Phillip's inspiring photography and writing is the spirit of a remarkable woman. This is a lovely and loving book, intensely personal yet universal. -- -- Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and The Blade, Sacred Pleasure, and Tomorrow's Children

This is an unusual book to inspire not only photographers, but all of us . . . There is certainly something holy about this approach, but Phillips reaches out to all camera owners with some quite practical suggestions. -- -- Robert Gilka, former Director of Photography, National Geographic Magazine

About the Author

Jan Phillips leads workshops nationally in writing, photography, and creativity. Her book, Marry Your Muse (Quest, 1997) won the Benjamin Franklin Award. Her award-winning photographs and articles appear in publications such as the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, MS Magazine, Utne Reader, and National Catholic Reporter.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Quest Books (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0835607852
• ISBN-13: 978-0835607858
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 9.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Criticism & Essays

More About the Author

Jan Phillips is an evolutionary artist, author, workshop director and social activist. She is co-founder and Executive Director of the Livingkindness Foundation (www.livingkindness.org), a global network of grassroots philanthropists turning creativity into compassionate action. Jan is also co-founder of Syracuse Cultural Workers, publishers of artwork for social justice and global consciousness. (www.syracuseculturalworkers.com)
She has taught in 23 countries, made a peace pilgrimage around the world, produced 2 CDs of original music, and created several videos on the power of creativity to transform consciousness. Her other books include The Art of Original Thinking-The Making of a Thought Leader, Divining the Body, Marry Your Muse, God is at Eye Level--Photography as a Healing Art, Making Peace, Born Gay, and A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind.
As a performing artist/speaker, Jan brings music, poetry, and images to all her audiences, using the arts to inspire as well as inform. Blending east and west, art and activism, reflection and ritual, Jan's presentations provoke original thinking and evolutionary action. With stories, humor and cutting edge creativity, she connects the dots between science, spirituality and social action. Visit www.janphillips.com for her books, CDs, videos and calendar of workshops.

No matter what our attempts to inform,
it is our ability to inspire that will turn the tides.
--from Marry Your Muse

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Returning to My Journey, October 29, 2000

By 

Rebecca Kirk (Lafayette, LA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God Is at Eye Level: Photography as a Healing Art (Paperback)

Upon reading Jan Phillips latest effort, "God Is At Eye Level", I was called upon to examine where I stood on my journey. Husband, family, & career had taken the time & energies previously used for silent contemplation. Pursuits, especially my photography, had been pushed aside. Frankly, I was reacting to life's events. Jan's book helped me to reclaim the time spent examining this life. It moves you to stop, think, ponder & reflect. It will cause you to focus on the miracles of each day. Her ideas will instill in one the importance of surrounding oneself with those people and things that make you smile. In the process, her book will unlock the creativity that may have been pushed aside to attend to the more mundane aggravations of daily life.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A moving book, March 22, 2002

By 

John Ellsworth (Northport, NY) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: God Is at Eye Level: Photography as a Healing Art (Paperback)

"God is at Eye Level" is a beautiful book--a moving book. Here Jan Phillips discusses the healing effect of photography on the personal and sociological levels. The design, photographs, quote-selections, and lucid writing are artfully woven together to produce an evocative read.

Several sub-themes radiate, all reinforced with illuminating quotes from famous artists and thinkers. Among my favorite themes is the relevance of "the moment," or "the present." As Jan says, when embarking on an "excursion of seeing, the rest of one's life is temporarily on hold. There is nothing to reckon with but the moment at hand." When anchored in the present, one's regrets and fears tend to dissolve. You are treated with a "sweet joy" and the healing nature of a "now" orientation.

Your photographs reflect who you are. As a result, you can discover as much about seeing inside yourself as the world outside. When you go out and shoot, Jan says, "honor your instincts, for the images that result are like clues to a treasure hunt," symbols which later tell you who you are, where you've been, and where you are going.

Jan tries to develop a relationship with everyone she photographs. She strives to achieve empathy with all her subjects. For her, the relationship comes first. Her portraits grow out of this closeness and express the intimacy from which they emerge. As a result, a portrait reflects the authenticity of a person's spirit.

Jan discusses the healing influence photography has upon society. She cites several photographers whose work evoked a national response and encouraged social reform. Among others, Jan includes the work of Dorothea Lange (migrant farmers) and Laura Gilpin (Navajos).

And lastly, many photographers wait until they are inspired before they go shooting. Jan says that for her, inspiration comes while working, not before it. The key is to start working, then discover while underway. Once you do, you will experience the healing nature of photography.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God Is at Eye Level, July 26, 2000

By 

Elizabeth Greene (Alden, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God Is at Eye Level: Photography as a Healing Art (Paperback)

Whether you are a beginner photographer, more advanced or don't even own a camera, this book should be on your shelf. It is a way of looking at the world which makes it a so very personal experience. Her philosophy on creativity brings such a refreshing validation to each person's impact on the world. It really knocked me sideways. This will be a classic.