Keeping Time: Contemplative Photography and the Art of Stewardship with Susan Patrice

Keeping Time: Contemplative Photography and the Art of Stewardship with Susan Patrice

May 26th - June 30th 2026
Tuesdays 6 - 8 pm EDT for 6 weekly sessions

Group size: 6

This six-session practice group offers an introduction to contemplative photography practices that help us attune and synchronize with the timing, rhythms, and cadence of the places and more-than-human kin we photograph.

As photographers, we are timekeepers keeping time with our subjects. The word keep, from the Middle English kēpen, means to observe and harmonize, but also to protect and care. When we keep time with loving, attuned attention, photography becomes a form of stewardship. And in stewardship, making photographs becomes an act of service, paying forward the gifts we receive on behalf of our subjects into a world hungry for beauty and connection. And, we infuse our own photography practice with deeper purpose and meaning.

Photographers in this practice group will be asked to create a ritual of photographing the same place for the duration of the group. Together, we will ponder whether repeatedly attending to the same place over time can awaken new levels of curiosity, wonder, and magic while inspiring new ways of seeing and caring. Each week, you will be asked to explore a new contemplative practice and to bring 2-10 photographs to share with the group for reflection. We will also explore accessible ways to give your photographs purpose in the world beyond the practice group. 

This practice group can be taken on its own or as a primer for a nine-month Art of Stewardship cohort and residency, which will be announced in early July.

If you are interested in this practice group and cannot attend Tuesday evenings, we are open to adding a mid-day group. If interested, please email info@kinship.photography.

Kinship uses a pay-what-you-can honor system. This six-session practice group requires a minimum donation of $60. The average contribution for an six-session practice group is $125. Please give as generously as you can. If you cannot afford the minimum contribution of $60, please request a scholarship.

Susan Patrice is a documentary photographer, contemplative artist, and community arts organizer. Over the last twenty years, she has worked with hundreds of creatives, drawing on a vast and diverse collection of resources gathered from her love of interdisciplinary studies. She lives in Cumberland, MD, where she is the director of Kinship Studio, a photography residency and retreat center.

Since 2016, Susan’s photographic work has explored the power of visual perception and its impact on feelings of connection and kinship. Through the use of handmade cameras built in response to the places she photographs, she engages in visual and gestural conversations with the land.