cole thompson photography
newsletter
Issue 127 - March 4, 2024
Skogafoss
My Friend!
A Shorter Newsletter!

Cole
In this issue:

  • Quotes

  • New images from Maui

  • Print sale ending

  • A Thought: Vision works at both ends of an image

  • The Story Behind the Image: Watched

  • Print Drawing
Quotes
"You can’t depend on your eyes if your imagination is out of focus."

Mark Twain
"The question is not what you look at, but what you see."

Henry David Thoreau
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."

Friedrich Nietzsche
"A camera merely records, but an artist creates."

Chuck Kimmerle
“I realized that I had things in my head not like what I had been taught – not like what I had seen – shapes and ideas so familiar to me that it hadn’t occurred to me to put them down.

I decided to stop painting, to put away everything I had done, and to start to say the things that were my own."

Georgia O'Keeffe
"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside awakens." 

Carl Jung
"All true art is an expression of the soul. The outward forms have value only in so far as they are expression of the inward spirit of man." 

Mahatma Gandhi
"Sometimes you have to be able to listen to yourself and be okay with no one else understanding."

Christopher Barzak
New Maui Images
Bamboo
Surfers at Ho'okipia
Beauty in Death No. 12
Iao Stream
Lighthouse Looking Towards Pu'u Ola'i
Maui Windmills and Big Sky
Beauty in Death No. 14
Kaulahao Beach
Maui Bees
Shadow Consumed
Monkeypod Tree
Print Sale Ending 4/7/2024
Lone Horse
My print sale ends on 4/7/2024, and here are the details:

  • Date: 4/1/2024 - 4/7/2024
  • Size: 10" X 15" numbered, un-matted
  • Price: $125 for the first, additional images are $100
  • Shipping: Included in the price
  • Which images: Any on my website
  • How to order: Email me

Notes:
 
If you mention John Barclay's name, prints are $200 each.
A square image will be 11" X 11" and a pano will be printed to 20" wide.
Paper may be either matte or semi-glossy.
Additional prints are $100 only when all prints are shipped together.
Vision Works at Both Ends
of An Image
Auschwitz No. 4
I love to talk about how Vision helps me to create an image, not documenting what I see with my eyes, but following what I am seeing inside my head. And I've recently been thinking about how Vision is also used when we view an image.

I first noticed this when I created Auschwitz No. 4 above. I had decided not to include any "living" persons in this series, but this image stuck with me, and I decided to include it. I remember having strong feelings as to what this image meant, this living man amongst the ghosts, but I never tell people what an image means to me. It seems to me that the image ought to speak for itself.

But over the years, as I've heard others express what this image means to them, I've been surprised to hear over a dozen different interpretations...and none of them matched mine. It seems to me that Vision not only guides in the creation of an image, but it also shapes the interpretation by the viewer.
Melting Giants No. 21
I saw this again when I created my "Melting Giants" series. What I saw and felt was different than what most other people saw and felt. I once heard someone say that if others did not "get" your message, then the image had failed.

I disagree. I think that my purpose in creating this series was not to communicate something, but to express something. And I'm glad that others see the images through their own life experiences (their Vision), even if they see something different than I do.

And that's why I don't talk about what I was trying to say, or what an image means to me. Once I have created the image, my job is done, and now it's up to the viewer to see what they see.
The Story Behind the Image
Watched
I was photographing in Mustard Canyon (Death Valley), when I noticed this coyote following me on the top of the hills. I'd move, and he'd move.

Finally, I decided to photograph him and grabbed my 100-400mm lens. I took one shot, and then he ran off. When I checked the image, I was disappointed to see that the lens had focused on the dark hill in front of the coyote. But I liked the image and chose to keep it.

Some time later, a friend told me that people were discussing this image on a photo forum. One person commented that I was a "genius" for how I approached this image: instead of focusing on the obvious subject, I chose to focus on the foreground, which ended up putting more emphasis on the coyote.

It was brilliant!

No, it was a lucky mistake...but it still could be true that I'm a genius!
Print Drawing
Ceiling Lamp, Mourning Dove Ranch
For this month's print drawing, I'll be giving away "Ceiling Lamp, Mourning Dove Ranch" (above).

To enter: send an email to Cole@ColeThompsonPhotography.com and put "Ceiling Lamp" in the subject line.

Thanks for entering!
The winner of my last print drawing is Julie Johnson who will be receiving a print of "Two Kimonos."

Congratulations Julie, please contact me and arrange for your print to be delivered!
970-218-9649