Greenflame

Jottings on science, religion, technology, pop culture, photography and faith from the Aotearoa New Zealand

Author: Stephen Garner

  • Photography and Spiritual Formation (6): Healing

    Related to the use of photography in spiritual formation are developments in the use of photography for therapeutic purposes. These range from the notion that doing something you might enjoy and which occupies your attention might help you be less concerned with life’s problems through to more detailed programmes of therapeutic photography.

  • Photography and Spiritual Formation (5): Therapy and Art

    While flicking through the Tate Modern’s YouTube channel “Finding Photography” this title caught my eye. Certainly the idea of photography as therapy and spiritual discipline is on my mind all the time.

  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer – 25 years on

    I came lately to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) when I started watching it on DVD while preparing material for the Bible in Popular Culture course back in 2009-2010. Somehow, I missed its arrival on television here in the early 2000s, had no idea there was an original film back in 2002, and sort of…

  • Photography and Spiritual Formation (4): Perspective

    There are many things I like about photography but among those things is a fascination with symmetry, perspective, and geometry. It’s probably why I tend to photograph things in an urban settings (Sallie McFague’s “second nature”), rather than in a more natural setting like landscapes, forest and bush, the back garden (“first nature”), or photographing…

  • Photography and Spiritual Formation (3): In the Classroom

    In the first post in this series (Photography and Spiritual Formation (1)) I mentioned Andrew Norton’s influence on my thinking about photography. Alongside Andrew, Eileen Crowley’s work on photography and religious life has also been significant, including shaping some of the ways I use digital technology in my teaching. I first met Eileen at THEOCOM…

  • Photography and Spiritual Formation (2): Kit

    Reflecting on cameras today as a new (second-hand) camera came in the mail today. I’ve not been a regular photographer over the years, though I seem to have picked up some of my late father’s enthusiasm for it over the past few years, but I have owned a number of cameras over the years with…

  • Photography and Spiritual Formation (1): Beginnings

    A few years back I had the privilege of inviting the late Andrew Norton to speak to my Theology and Media class on photography and spirituality. Andrew graciously obliged and brought in a number of canvases with prints on them as well as a selection of digital photos for us to view and engage with.…

  • Comics and Mental Health and Wellness

    Recently, I’ve been reading a number of comics and graphic novels that deal with aspects of mental health and wellness. This is part of the wider project I’m developing on Comics, Social Change, and the Public Good which I’m hoping to work on more next year. Below I’ve listed a number of comics and graphic…

  • Comic-based Films (7) -RED/RED 2 and The Losers

    Both RED (Retired. Extremely Dangerous), its sequel, RED 2, and The Losers play with the idea of government agents or soldiers who have been sold out by their country and now live on the margins of society. From those margins they are drawn back into action in order to clear their names and right wrongs…

  • Comic-based Films (6) – Accident Man and Cowboys & Aliens

    Stepping away from vampires and Japanese anime, today’s comic-based films are back in the action-adventure categories of hitmen (Accident Man) and westerns (the star-studded Cowboys and Aliens).