
zen♫'s flickr score: 6114
Yes, Zen is my name - my parents were beatniks (but not enough to put Zen on my birth certificate, they just called me that)
I take my camera everywhere and take photos of nearly everything. That's why i have a lot of shots, and one or two good ones. I am fascinated by light and reflection, so i don't think i'll have a problem when i'm supposed to head for the light after this life is done.
I try very hard and take many photos in order to get the right shot into my camera. I do not use photoshop on the vast majority of my images to enhance or saturate or filter. On the occasion when i do, i so state (and usually sign the work in the corner).
Being on a Mac, i do use GraphicConverter to crop, to brighten, to size and tweak the levels a bit on a photo, but nothing outside what was done traditionally in a darkroom.
I tend to want to see the unseen and try to photograph the unwilling or unwanted. I strive to keep my "beginner eyes." Hopefully the things i have learned about photographing have to do with how to control the camera and not how to "see appropriately."
One of my aims is to capture the commonplace that is also temporary. Things gone tomorrow and only around yesterday.
I also geek out on plants native to North America and the Great Smokies region of the mountains where i live. If you want something identified i'm usually pretty good at the flowers, and only so-so at the woody plants.

I also delete any of the silly "Award" animated-gif comments in my photostream and am an active member of the no-awards group.
please don't

award me
KudoSurf Me!


I'm Male and Desperately in Love with Helen.
Photos of zen (63)
zen's favorite photos from other Flickr members (2,420)
Contacts (799)
Groups (50)
- Sony CyberShot HX20V - HX30V 3,926 photos, 233 members
- Abandoned Factories and Mills 8,828 photos, 454 members
- Biltmore Estate 2,832 photos, 398 members
- SOMETHING DIFFERENT (post 1, comment 1) 26,517 photos, 1,580 members
- Reflections (Post 1 Award 3) --- NOW VOTING!!! 17,433 photos, 2,809 members
- Abstract reflections 6,453 photos, 350 members
- That would be SUCH an album cover 162 photos, 60 members
- Challenges Universe (reloaded) - on facebook! 400 photos, 2,566 members
- QR Codes in the wild 1,967 photos, 727 members
- Piu-piu na gaiola 40 photos, 19 members
- Traveling Toys 33,062 photos, 2,305 members
- #AVLSNOMG 85 photos, 12 members
- Skink Pinhole Photography 307 photos, 65 members
- Digital Pinhole Photography 6,319 photos, 1,649 members
- TEDxAVL 191 photos, 19 members
- Sony α NEX 186,182 photos, 9,271 members
- ID Please 7,800 photos, 790 members
- incidental painting 2,045 photos, 116 members
- (+: (+: (+: les frères ripolin :+) :+) :+) 2,825 photos, 184 members
- MOMS GRAFF 1,826 photos, 97 members
- silly buddha 513 photos, 266 members
- ICM - Intentional Camera Movement - NEW Moderators promoted 22,946 photos, 2,626 members
- Your Best Shot 2009 15,869 photos, 19,462 members
- Photographers with Compact Cameras 8,319 photos, 348 members
- La mia prima foto su Flickr - My first photo on Flickr 11,914 photos, 23,077 members
- walking there 0 photos, 1 member
- Canon EOS 400D (aka. Rebel XTi / KISS Digital X) 474,169 photos, 18,388 members
- imaginary maps 168 photos, 42 members
- 37 2,016 photos, 224 members
- Worldwide Photo Walk - Asheville 510 photos, 42 members
- The Found Alphabet 4 photos, 7 members
- we heart gato 217 photos, 44 members
- ditloa2009winners 89 photos, 41 members
- Transylvania County, NC 1,053 photos, 62 members
- DITLO Asheville 753 photos, 177 members
- 2009 Spring DITLOA 0 photos, 9 members
- Mountain Xpress Community Photo Gallery 449 photos, 132 members
- Asheville Photo Meet-ups 155 photos, 41 members
- photogamer 4,692 photos, 1,450 members
- Motion Minimalism 1,281 photos, 278 members
- The Photo Of The Week ( Limit 1 per day!) 20,639 photos, 2,967 members
- Polaroid Spectra 19,451 photos, 2,221 members
- Shoe Conversations 1,273 photos, 329 members
- Ceramics 25,179 photos, 2,366 members
- Pensive Abstractions 39,288 photos, 1,201 members
- Creative Photography 258,734 photos, 10,782 members
- LAST SUPPER 117 photos, 75 members
- blurfection 34,981 photos, 1,876 members
- Sculptures, Statues, and Public Art 176,207 photos, 9,558 members
- SPLIT SCREEN ~ Vertical lines in images. Splitscreen 411 photos, 30 members
Galleries (2)
- Standing there 12 photos
- abstractive color excitement 12 photos
Testimonials (12)
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BillRhodesPhoto says:
"zen has not had a new testimonial in almost 2 years. wow. perhaps the testimonial biz is not what it was in better times.
too bad.
I hereby attempt to make times better...
zen lives around the corner from me. we share many common (or to most people, uncommon) interests, not the least of which is an attempt to document our lives here on flickr.
To the extent zen succeeds at this far better than I is an eternal challenge to me, to keep going and out-zen zen.
I am not sure it can be done, but there it is."15th April, 2010
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brancusi7 says:
"He's the zen poet of shadows, dribbles, found art, the discarded - even the banal. A very positive artist indeed."
11th June, 2008
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O Caritas says:
"If there is one person on flickr who lives up to his name, it's zen.
A stroll through zen's stream is indeed a trip through a mindful existence. His photos run the gamut from awe-inspiring vistas of his homeland to awe-inspiring glimpses of his daily minutiae. In this collection of photographs, there is an endless supply of smiles and laughter and tenderness and thoughtfulness.
If a technological phenomenon such as flickr can have a soul, then I contend that it resides right here in this photostream."8th February, 2008
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brendadada says:
"Zen has been on my contacts list for more than a year now, which is a fair testament in itself. Anyhow, I might not say much when I'm here, but I like these photos, they're witty and joyful, and there's always something new to see. Thank you!"
2nd May, 2006
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patisfaction ~ censored says:
"Zen is a long time buddy from the 'golden' fotolog era.
He's a phun & creative picture takin devil, there's almost no subject he can't handle.
Zen is -the- groups/community man in heart n soul!
[he made the 1st & famous grouppage outside flog]
Thnx 4 all man!
♫"6th March, 2006
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*L says:
"zen is joy and zen is fun. he is my neighbour, the ocean is just a small pool.
my day is not the same without your pictures, zen.
:*"24th February, 2006
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Casteel says:
"I'm fortunate enough to be a friend of Zen outside of cyberspace as well as in. We try our best to meet for a hike once a month and continuously bother each other on the phone with matters from the insignificant to the insurmountable.
The visual playgrounds Zen shares with us are surpassed only by the person himself. Zen finds the acceptable - even the likable - in most anything he encounters. Be it an alley, a plant, a person...anything that one might think of as ordinary, dirty, or perhaps repulsive.... Zen will connect with the good, the intriguing, the wonderment in it. This is true for his eye - and his soul.
...and because of him, i'm slowly learning to do the same."6th October, 2005
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wahoo-yahoo says:
"Zen will take you on a visual ride with deep implications if one can "see". To see his photographs one just has to look. We all go through most of our days in a sleep walk, and Zens talent is to slap you awake. One can tell he is in an almost constant state of awareness, because his photographs are his testimony of that awareness. I look forward to his posts and have delighted in their oneness, and their depth of awareness. What is the sound of one hand clicking? Zen"
11th September, 2005
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deadmanguru says:
"Zen is an apt name for this fellow. His images are filled with noticement and wonder; he pictures the mundane but illustrates the transcendent. A daily dose of Zen will cure what ails you."
10th April, 2005
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woodcreeper says:
"Master of the roving lens, zen captures the essence of all subjects great and small. His contributions to flickr can be seen across genres, whether they be spelled out in the Technique group, or peppered throughout dozens of others. His portraits though, deserve special note, as they draw the viewer into the lives of strangers so exquisitely.
After visiting Asheville during the holidays, I have now made my partner a solemn promise to never yell out the name of someone I’ve only met in zen’s flickr world. That guy, who upon turning around and exposing himself as someone other than who I thought he was, is probably still wondering why I yelled “King Snake!” as he crossed the street.
I blame zen, for transparently showing us the world through his eyes."4th January, 2005
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lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP says:
"a berserk kind of photographer, nothing being too difficult to be portrayed, no idea too crazy to not being put into execution! I am amazed by zen's creativity, the way his senses alert him about everything that's special in the common and about the universally appliable in the special. I am glad for having the chance to share a piece of zen vision every single day :)"
14th December, 2004
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Auntie P says:
"What can I say? Zen is a wonderfully prolific photographer whose quality never seems to slip. His eye for a great image is incredible, from edgy urban observations to subtle and sensitive captures of the natural world. A master of the abstract, Zen's photographs are stunning, often breathtaking, occasionally witty and always worth a good long look."
7th November, 2004
- Name:
- zen Sutherland
- Joined:
- September 2004
- Hometown:
- Vienna, VA
- Currently:
- Asheville, NC, USA
- Occupation:
- Electronic Medical Records Specialist
- Website:
- zenscription, my writing blog






















