Daniel Thomas Smith

Hello, I'm Daniel Thomas Smith. I originally trained as a scientist, and I now work as a photographer. I’ve spent a lot of my life examining and looking.

I’ve been a meditator for about 15 years and have been studying Zen Buddhism for the last 5 years with Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi.

The study of Zen has given me so much. It has reduced my anxiety and depression, helped me make sense of the world and my place in it, and shown me that me and life are one inseparable process. I’ve shifted from seeing one dimensionally to three dimensionally, turned away from drama and towards play, moved from feeling alone to being connected.

Whenever asked about the Zen perspective, I always struggled to explain it and ended up giving long, rambling, and confusing answers.

To help answer those questions, I have developed this workbook called Another Way of Seeing. It's like when people in a pub use salt and pepper pots to explain the offside rule — I use a series of images to show what a Zen perspective is all about.   It uses a combination of thought experiments, such as “what in your immediate experience doesn’t change?”, written exercises, and visual guides inspired by Zen Buddhism.

This isn't about converting anyone to anything; it’s just me saying, “I found this amazing thing that’s helped me so much, and I’d love to share some of it with you and show you how I, as a visual person, make sense of it. Another way of seeing is possible”