John Daido Loori is a first generation American Zen Master and the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery in the Catskill Mountains of New York, where he integrates his background as an artist and naturalist with his spiritual teachings. He maintains a particular interest in using artistic expression as a way to communicate the teachings of Zen, continuing the spirit of the timeless aesthetic of the Artless Arts of Zen.

John Daido Loori began his work in photography at an early age and went on to study extensively with photographer Minor White. He has conducted photography workshops across the United States and exhibited in 64 one-person shows and more than 125 groups shows, both in the United States and abroad.

Loori lectures widely on photography and the creative process at art centers, museums, and universities. He is the author of nineteen books, four of which are collections of his photographs. His books have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Polish, Finnish and Hebrew. Loori’s photography has been published in books, magazines and leading photography journals such as Aperture and Time-Life Photography, and he has directed, filmed or produced ten documentary works and several art videos that interweave poetry, music and visual imagery. His recent Mountains and Rivers video was winner of the Gold Award at the WorldFest Charleston International Film Festival, and Honorable Mention at the Columbus International Film and Video Festival.

Loori’s most recent work—which includes this exhibition—is the book The Way of Mountains and Rivers released in 2009. Both are based on Loori’s translation and commentaries on 13th-century Zen Master Dogen’s Mountains and Rivers Sutra. Through prose, poetry and fine art photographs, The Way of Mountains and Rivers develops a 21st century thesis for an environmental consciousness that interweaves modern science and ecology within a compelling moral and ethical paradigm. Following the same course, Water Speaking Water merges visual images, natural sounds, and music into an expression of the voice of the mountains and rivers themselves.