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| Double-Coloured Sunbird : Kirstenbosch Garden, Cape Town |
“A sunbird perched on a strelitzia, reminding us that beauty isn’t measured in size - but in presence.” - Vernon Chalmers
"My camera is no longer a device. It is a pulse. A breath. A witness to the slow unfolding of a consciousness that no longer rushes". - Vernon Chalmers
"This essay explores Vernon Chalmers’ notion of Photography and Presence as a meditative - existential inquiry into perception, awareness, and the phenomenology of lived experience. Drawing from phenomenology, existential philosophy, and the psychology of attention, Chalmers’ photographic practice is interpreted as an embodied form of consciousness - one that situates the act of photographing within the immediacy of being. The study contextualizes his approach within a wider philosophical tradition, referencing thinkers such as Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Sartre, while integrating contemporary understandings of mindfulness and aesthetic perception. The analysis concludes that Chalmers’ photographic method transcends documentation, becoming a form of existential engagement - where the camera mediates the dialectic between observer and observed, presence and absence, time and timelessness.
Introduction
For Vernon Chalmers, photography is not merely a representational act or a technical pursuit - it is a phenomenology of presence, an exploration of the lived and conscious encounter between the self, the camera, and the world. Chalmers’ body of work, especially his reflective writings on Applied Existential Photography, reveals an ongoing inquiry into the conditions of perception and the nature of photographic awareness. In his philosophy, photography becomes both a medium of seeing and a method of being, one that integrates aesthetic, existential, and psychological dimensions into a unified field of experience.
The concept of presence - understood here as the fullness of awareness in the moment of engagement - plays a pivotal role in his understanding of photographic practice. Chalmers’ vision aligns with the phenomenological imperative to “return to the things themselves” (Husserl, 1970), emphasizing the immediacy of experience as it unfolds before consciousness. His engagement with coastal landscapes, birds in flight, and transient light across False Bay in Cape Town reveals not just visual observation, but a philosophical inquiry into how being and seeing coalesce in the act of image-making.
This essay explores Chalmers’ articulation of presence within photography, situating it within philosophical frameworks that bridge phenomenology, existentialism, and psychology. It argues that Chalmers’ photography operates as a contemplative practice - anchoring attention, dissolving temporal fragmentation, and restoring the authenticity of being through aesthetic encounter.
Photography as a Phenomenology of Presence
Phenomenology, as advanced by Edmund Husserl (1970) and later expanded by Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1962), proposes that consciousness is always consciousness of something - that is, intentional and directed toward the world. For Chalmers, photography functions precisely within this intentional structure. The camera becomes an extension of perception - a means through which the photographer dwells in the world rather than merely capturing it. Each photograph embodies what Merleau-Ponty calls the intertwining of the visible and the invisible (1968), where perception and being form a reciprocal relationship.
In his photographic philosophy, Chalmers (2025) often emphasizes the act of “being present” during photographic encounters - an embodied attentiveness that transcends visual recognition. To photograph, in this sense, is not to collect images but to inhabit moments. The seascapes and birds he observes are not subjects of distance but partners in a shared field of awareness. Through the lens, the self becomes situated within an unfolding horizon of time, light, and motion.
This alignment with phenomenology situates Chalmers within a tradition that views artistic perception as revelatory of being itself. Heidegger (1971) describes art as a mode of unconcealment - a bringing forth of truth (aletheia). In Chalmers’ imagery, this unconcealment occurs through the stillness of presence, where the world reveals itself not as objectified content but as a field of lived participation. Each image thus becomes a record of presence - a moment of existential authenticity.
.jpg "Vernon Chalmers on Photography and Presence") |
| Peregrine Falcon High in the Sky : From Arnhem, Milnerton |
Presence in photography is not a static condition but a dynamic relation to time. For Chalmers, photographing is an act of temporal suspension: the camera mediates between the flow of life and the permanence of form. This temporal dialectic recalls Roland Barthes’ (1981) assertion that every photograph is both that-has-been and that-is-no-more. Yet Chalmers’ philosophy diverges from Barthes’ melancholic reading by emphasizing continuity rather than absence. Presence, for Chalmers, is not what time erases, but what consciousness redeems.
In the contemplative stillness of his practice, Chalmers embodies what Csikszentmihalyi (1990) terms a flow state—a complete absorption in activity that merges awareness and action. Time, during such moments, becomes nonlinear. The photographer does not merely anticipate or recall but inhabits the eternal now. This condition of temporal openness resonates with Heidegger’s (1962) conception of Being-toward-time, wherein presence involves both projection and retrieval - a synthesis of memory and anticipation within the lived instant.
Aesthetic presence, then, becomes a mode of temporal grounding. When Chalmers photographs the movement of birds or the reflective sea at sunrise, he captures not only the visual event but also the temporality of awareness itself. The photograph materializes a moment of being that, though ephemeral, sustains a timeless resonance. As philosopher Henri Bergson (1911) suggested, perception is always an act of duration—a condensation of time into consciousness. Chalmers’ work exemplifies this condensation, translating fleeting perception into lasting visual form.
Photography, Mindfulness, and Embodied Awareness
Chalmers’ engagement with photography as presence also reflects an alignment with mindfulness and psychological theories of awareness. The mindfulness movement, rooted in Buddhist contemplative traditions and adapted in contemporary psychology (Kabat-Zinn, 2003), defines presence as non-judgmental awareness of the present moment. In this framework, the act of photographing - when undertaken with intention and openness - can become a mindfulness practice in itself.
Chalmers’ approach to the photographic process mirrors this mindful stance. The act of waiting for light, observing patterns of motion, and engaging with environmental stillness requires what psychologists term sustained attention (Brown et al., 2007). His work illustrates how photography can cultivate attentional stability and perceptual clarity, transforming observation into a meditative discipline. The camera, rather than distracting from presence, becomes an instrument of awareness - a focusing device for consciousness.
This mindful dimension bridges the psychological and the philosophical. In existential terms, presence involves an authentic confrontation with being - what Sartre (1943) described as the consciousness of existence itself. Photography thus becomes an existential exercise: it requires acknowledging transience without denial, perceiving impermanence without retreat. Chalmers’ reflective writings on the experience of photographing coastal landscapes suggest precisely this awareness - that beauty arises from the tension between stillness and change, permanence and impermanence.
.jpg "Vernon Chalmers on Photography and Presence") |
| Inside of a Wildflower : Kirstenbosch Gardens |
Existential Dimensions of Presence in Photography
Chalmers’ photographic inquiry into presence is also deeply existential. His attention to solitude, temporality, and perception reflects what existential philosophers regard as the fundamental conditions of human existence. For Sartre (1943), consciousness is defined by nothingness - a perpetual transcendence of what is given. In this sense, the photographer’s gaze is always reaching beyond the visible, seeking meaning within absence.
Similarly, Chalmers’ photographic process involves a dialogue between being and nothingness. Each image represents both presence (what is seen) and absence (what is lost). The photograph becomes a site of existential negotiation - between the desire to hold the moment and the impossibility of doing so. As Susan Sontag (1977) observed, every photograph is an act of appropriation, yet Chalmers resists this possessive impulse. His photography, rather than capturing, witnesses - acknowledging the autonomy of phenomena without imposing ownership.
Moreover, Chalmers’ reflective writing often emphasizes self-awareness and existential authenticity. The process of photographing, for him, is not only external observation but internal revelation. As Heidegger (1962) suggests, authenticity arises when one confronts one’s own being as finite and situated. In Chalmers’ practice, this authenticity is mediated through the act of seeing - through recognizing oneself as part of the scene one observes. The seascape, the bird, and the horizon all reflect the existential structure of human awareness: to be is to be-in-the-world (Heidegger, 1962), to exist in relation to other presences.
.jpg "Vernon Chalmers on Photography and Presence") |
| Purple Heron Above Table Bay Nature Reserve : Woodbridge Island |
Presence and the Poetics of Perception
Chalmers’ notion of presence also possesses a poetic dimension. Photography, in his view, is not only descriptive but evocative. The poetic arises in the meeting between perception and imagination - where what is seen gestures toward what is felt. Gaston Bachelard (1958) argued that poetic imagination transforms ordinary perception into an experience of reverie and wonder. Chalmers’ images, often depicting simple scenes - reflections on water, passing clouds, or avian flight - carry this quiet poetics of perception.
His work thus reveals what philosopher Arnold Berleant (1991) calls aesthetic engagement: the dissolution of boundaries between perceiver and perceived. In such moments, photography transcends its instrumental purpose to become a relational art. The viewer of Chalmers’ images is invited not to consume but to enter - to share in the contemplative presence that gave rise to the image. Each photograph becomes an open horizon, an invitation to dwell.
This poetic presence is inseparable from the ethics of seeing. To be present through photography is to witness without dominance - to allow phenomena their own being. This aligns with Emmanuel Levinas’ (1969) ethical phenomenology, which understands presence as responsibility: the openness to the other as other. Chalmers’ respectful attention to the natural world reflects this ethos of regard - an existential humility before the mystery of appearance.
Presence, Technology, and the Digital Paradigm
In contemporary digital culture, the notion of presence faces profound challenges. The proliferation of images has transformed photography from an act of contemplation into one of instant consumption. Chalmers’ philosophy thus stands as a counterpoint to this acceleration. His insistence on slowness, awareness, and intentional engagement constitutes a critique of what philosopher Byung-Chul Han (2017) calls the disappearance of the contemplative gaze in the age of hypervisibility.
For Chalmers, technology is not to be rejected but rehumanized. The digital camera or smartphone, when used with presence, can become a tool for awareness rather than distraction. His emphasis on Applied Existential Photography advocates precisely this reintegration of technology into mindful seeing - where technique serves perception rather than replaces it. In this sense, his philosophy contributes to the discourse on digital phenomenology, emphasizing how tools can mediate authentic presence when used consciously.
Furthermore, Chalmers’ engagement with online platforms and educational writing demonstrates how presence can extend beyond the moment of capture into reflection and sharing. The process of editing, writing, and teaching becomes part of a continuum of presence - a dialogical extension of the original encounter. Photography, in his framework, thus becomes a holistic practice integrating perception, creation, and communication.
Presence as Reflective Practice
Chalmers’ emphasis on presence extends beyond image-making into self-reflective practice. His written reflections on photography often articulate awareness as both inward and outward - what philosopher David Abram (1996) describes as the reciprocity of perception. To be present is to sense oneself as part of the world that one perceives. Photography, therefore, becomes a mirror of consciousness - a means to explore one’s own perceptual identity.
This reflective practice resonates with humanistic psychology, particularly Carl Rogers’ (1961) concept of congruence, the alignment between inner experience and external expression. Chalmers’ photography exemplifies this congruence: the images he produces reflect the state of presence he inhabits. The authenticity of the image thus corresponds to the authenticity of the moment.
Moreover, presence as reflective practice involves an ethics of attention. As psychologist Erich Fromm (1976) noted, attention is an act of love - a recognition of the world’s worthiness of care. Chalmers’ work embodies this ethic through his quiet attentiveness to nature and place. His photographs remind viewers that to see is already to care; that perception, when suffused with presence, is itself a moral gesture.
.jpg "Vernon Chalmers on Photography and Presence") |
| Helmeted Guinea Fowl Portrait : Kirstenbosch Garden |
Vernon Chalmers’ philosophy of Photography and Presence represents a profound synthesis of phenomenological seeing, existential awareness, and aesthetic mindfulness. His photographic practice unfolds as a form of being-in-the-world - a continual attunement to the interplay of light, time, and consciousness. Presence, in his vision, is not a static attribute but a dynamic relation: a living dialogue between the photographer, the world, and the act of seeing itself.
Through the lens of phenomenology, Chalmers’ work reveals photography as an embodied consciousness - a participation in being rather than its mere depiction. Through existential reflection, it becomes a confrontation with transience and authenticity. Through mindfulness and psychology, it becomes a practice of attention and care. His photography thus restores to the medium its original philosophical power: to reveal the world not as image but as experience.
In an era where speed and distraction dominate visual culture, Chalmers’ philosophy invites a return to slowness, awareness, and presence. Photography, in his hands, becomes a meditative art of being - an affirmation that to see truly is to exist fully." (Source: ChatGPT 2025)
References
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