This Buddhist monk blessed a Hasselblad camera at the Shaolin Temple – and Chinese social media had a field day with "enlightenment" puns
(Image credit: Weibo: Photographer Pi Zidong)
Here's something you don't see every day: a photographer went to the Shaolin Temple, in China's Henan province, and he asked a monk to bless his Hasselblad camera – apparently becoming the first person to make such a request.
While the Shaolin Temple might be most famous (at least, to fans of old-school chop-socky flicks and the Wu-Tang Clan) as the birthplace of Shaolin Kung-Fu, it is a monastery that is home to Chan Buddhism.
It is fairly common for pilgrims and visitors to ask the monks to bless significant items, such as prayer beads or bracelets. But to ask a monk to imbue an old medium format camera with good fortune and protection was apparently a first!
"I blessed a Hasselblad camera at the Shaolin Temple," wrote Pi Zidong, a Beijing car culture photographer, on Chinese social media site Weibo.
"The master said that I was the first person to do this. Now that the camera has been blessed, I wish that all the people I photograph with this camera in the future will be healthy, happy, safe and blessed!"
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Photographer Pi Zidong, from Beijing, took his Hasselblad (500C?) to the Shaolin Temple(Image credit: Weibo: Photographer Pi Zidong)
"The master said that I was the first person to do this," said Pi(Image credit: Weibo: Photographer Pi Zidong)
As you might imagine, the idea of a film camera (which looks to be a Hasselblad 500C) being "enlightened" by the teachings of Buddha generated some well-natured comments from other users.
"Will the light metering be inaccurate in the future?" asked BBBOOSS, while zb2759 pondered, "Should the first photo be taken at night?"
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User Mayfly World scored points with the game geek in me when they asked, "Will there be camera effects like in Zero: Crimson Butterfly?" referring to the Fatal Frame series of horror videogames (known as Zero in Asia) where a special film camera can exorcize spirits.
However, the trophy for best comment goes to Camera Obsession (who I must thank for drawing my attention to the post) for writing, "Buddha's light blesses me, I will consciously reduce the shutter speed by 1/3 when taking photos in the future."
Maybe I'll stop by my local Buddhist vihara next time I'm in town and see if they'll bless my camera kit…
A Shaolin monk blessing guests from visitors – including Pi's Hasselblad (Image credit: Weibo: Photographer Pi Zidong)
The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera Magazine, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine, Digital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.
