Issue 130 - September 23, 2024

Harbinger No. 60

I've have three thoughts that I want to combine into a challenge for the readers of my newsletter, they are:

Thought No. 1: I've noticed that my attention span has become much shorter over the last few years. I wonder if social media is partially to blame, encouraging the consumption of more and more and faster and faster; swipe, swipe, swipe, faster, faster, faster! They say that images on social media get viewed an average of 3 seconds.

Thought No. 2: I continue to think about the "Felt Method" of viewing art, and how I want to view an image through my feelings, and not by analyzing it intellectually.

Thought No. 3: I read an article in the New York Times entitled: Test Your Focus: Can You Spend Ten Minutes with One Painting? It said that even though our attention spans have become shorter, we can reverse this and challenged readers to study a painting for ten minutes. It had a "Start" button that would measure how long you looked at the image, and then reported the results for all participants. I was not surprised to learn that 75% quit before the ten minutes were up, and I was one of them!

And so with those three thoughts, I wanted to ask if you‘d participate in a similar experiment of my own: Can you study an image for ten minutes and only focus on your feelings?

Try not to analyze the composition or it's degree of technical perfection. Do not ask yourself if you like it or not. Do not think about how it could have been created better or how you would have done it. But rather, focus solely on how it makes you feel. This is the "Felt Method" of viewing an image.

And then I'd love to hear from you; let me know how long you lasted, and most importantly, did looking at the image for a longer period of time change how you saw the image or felt about it?

Pick one of the images in this newsletter or one of your choosing. Can you view it for ten minutes and focus on your feelings?

Cole

P.S. Here's the original article:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/07/20/upshot/attention-experiment.html?unlocked_article_code=1.800.rvOh.qHo2F7M4znkJ&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

In this issue:

• Quotes
• Upcoming Studio Tour
• New Images
• PDF Portfolios
• The Story Behind the Image
• Print Drawing

Quotes

Rick Rubin's ideas on creativity resonate with me. He says the things that I think and feel, but have no words for. If his ideas resonate with you also, you might be interested in his book: The Creative Act: A Way of Being.

“We mistakenly think some kind of outward success is going to change something in us, and it does not. It may make life more comfortable, but it doesn’t change who we are. And any hole in ourselves that we’re hoping to fill, does not get filled.

We don’t know what we want, we don’t know what’s going to make us happy. We’re trying to fill something that maybe can’t be filled through material or cultural success...public success.

But it’s something else, it’s some internal thing.

I like when people like the things I make…but it changes nothing. It changes nothing.”

Rick Rubin

“The audience comes last. I believe that. I’m not making it for them, I’m making it for me and it turns out that when you are making something truly for yourself, you're doing the best thing you possibly can for the audience.

So much of why you go to the movies, so many big movies, are just not good…it’s because they're not being made by a person who cares about it. They're being made by people who are trying to make something that they think someone else is going to like. And that’s not how art works. That’s something else, it’s not art. That’s commerce.

So if we’re making art, we’re making…it’s almost like a diary entry. So should I be concerned that someone else might not like my diary entry? It doesn’t make sense, it has nothing to do with them. My diary entry has nothing to do with anyone else.

So everything we make as artists are essentially diary entries. 

Rick Rubin

“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.”

Rick Rubin

“If you have an idea you’re excited about and you don’t bring it to life, it’s not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker. This isn’t because the other artist stole your idea, but because the idea’s time has come.”

Rick Rubin

“Living life as an artist is a practice.

You are either engaging in the practice

or you’re not.

It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it. It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.” You are either living as a monk or you’re not.

We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output.

The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.”

Rick Rubin

“As artists, we seek to restore our childlike perception: a more innocent state of wonder and appreciation not tethered to utility or survival.”

Rick Rubin

“Doubting yourself can lead to a sense of hopelessness, of not being inherently fit to take on the task at hand. All or nothing thinking is a nonstarter.

However, doubting the quality of your work might, at times, help to improve it. You can doubt your way to excellence.”

Rick Rubin

Fort Collins Studio Tour

Each year my community hosts a Studio Tour, where artists open up their working galleries to the public. This year I'm exhibiting work from the third phase of my photographic life: The Vision Years - 2004-2024.

Here's the information, just in case you're in the area around this time:

Saturday October 26 from 10 am to 5 pm

Sunday October 27 from 12 pm to 5 pm

4780 Totonka Trail - Laporte, CO 80535

970-218-9649

I have been surprised at how many people who were traveling in the area, have stopped by to say hello.

I hope to see some of you there!

New Images

Lone Man No. 183

Faroe Islands No. 196

Faroe Islands Windmills

Faroe Islands No. 187

Faroe Photographers

The Road to Nowhere No. 20

Faroe Islands No. 180

Faroe Islands No. 194

Faroe Islands No. 189

Beauty in Death No. 19

Ancient Stones No. 62

Ancient Stones No. 65

Ancient Stones No. 60

Ancient Stones No. 61

PDF Portfolios

Melting Giants No. 16

Just a reminder that I now have five portfolios for download on my website:

The Ghosts of Auschwitz-Birkenau

The Dunes of Nude

Powerlines

Melting Giants

The Dahlia

These are free downloads and are of a higher resolution than you find on my website.

View and Download Here

My first "Ukrainians, With Eyes Shut" image

It was 2008 and I was visiting my son in Beryslav, Ukraine where he was serving in the Peace Corps. My wife and I went to visit him and to meet his girlfriend Erica who was also serving there, and who later became his wife.

How did I prepare as a photographer for the trip? I didn't! When I visit an area I prepare by not preparing; I do not research the area, I do not look at the work of other photographers and I never purchase a guide book. I want to see the area with fresh eyes, with as few preconceived ideas as possible. And so I went hoping and trusting that I would see something that would inspire me.

As I traveled about, I was constantly looking...but wasn't seeing anything that grabbed my attention. I found the people interesting, and they let me photograph them, but I was dissatisfied with the results:

What people allowed me to photograph was their smile, a mask put on for the benefit of a stranger with a camera. I wanted to photograph more than that mask, but I didn’t know how. I shared no common language with my subjects and didn't have the time to break down barriers.

I was thinking about this problem when I saw a man leaning against the wall at a bus stop, and suddenly I had an idea! I approached the man, tapped my chest and said “America” and he nodded. I then held up my camera and said “photographer” and he nodded again. I then made the universal sign for “can I take your picture?” and he nodded a third time, and I took his picture.

Then using sign language, I said “Stop! Close your eyes“ and the man’s expression said “What???” and I signed it again “Close your eyes.”

And I took his picture a second time with his eyes shut, and I liked what I saw. It revealed what was beneath the mask.

And so for the rest of my time in Ukraine, I stopped strangers in the street and asked if I could photograph them with their eyes shut. Each time my request was met with surprise, curiosity and often a laugh. Only twice did someone refuse to close their eyes for me.

Some believe that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and perhaps they are, but on this day I found that closing the eyes helped me to see the person beneath the smile.

I also found that this experience endeared me to the Ukrainian people. Several of the people I met became friends, and I still correspond with them today.

Quite a few of the people I photographed were young men and I worry they have been killed in battle, and this both saddens and angers me.

Slava Ukraini!

Chamarro No. 2, Convergance

For this month's print drawing I'll be giving away "Chamarro No. 2, Convergance."

To enter: send an email to Cole@ColeThompsonPhotography.com and put "Chamarro No. 2" in the subject line.

Thanks for entering!

The winner of my last print drawing is Adam Burke who will be receiving a print of "Monkeypod Tree."



Congratulations Adam (from Aurora), please contact me and arrange for your print to be delivered!