Restorative justice pioneer Howard Zehr is also an accomplished photographer. He begins his latest book with a confession -- “I have written this book in part to encourage myself to slow down, to heighten my imagination, to renew myself while I gain a new view of the creation and the creator.”

With this book, Zehr makes a gift to anyone who would like to couple photography with seeing and thinking more deeply. In each chapter he offers a Purpose, a Problem, and an Activity with a camera in order to “practice mindfulness.”

You’ll not need a fancy camera, but if you have one it won’t hurt. Zehr’s chapter-by-chapter exercises are aimed at heightening visual awareness and imagination—all while doing good and working for justice.

Zehr knows the risks of spending oneself:  “This book is part of The Little Books of Justice and Peacebuilding series because seekers of justice and peace are often so committed to their cause that they take too little time to reflect and to appreciate the world around them. These ideas and exercises have given me a framework and encouraged my own ongoing spiritual discipline through the medium of photography.”

The author gratefully acknowledges the numerous authors and publishers who granted permission to reprint excerpts in this book.

Excerpts from The Mind’s Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers © Henri Cartier-Bresson are used by permission of the publisher, Aperture, New York, 1999.

Excerpts from The Shape of Content by Ben Shahn, pp. 63, 70, are reprinted by permission of the publisher, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1957 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, © renewed 1985 by Bernarda B. Shahn. An excerpt from Crossing Open Ground by Barry Lopez reprinted by permission of SLL/Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. Copyright 1988 by Barry Lopez. Excerpts from Why People Photograph © Robert Adams are used by permission of the publisher, Aperture, New York, 1994.

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