Thanks alot @David_Kingham and Cole for re-recording! Had to work today, looking forward to the watch!
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Iām looking forward to receiving the recorded version. Was not able to receive the original presentation.
I really enjoyed the presentation. Thank you Cole for doing it and David K for hooking us up. There was some garbled audio, but I was able to understand everything and enjoy it once I committed to listening anyway.
ML
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The clean recording has been added to original post in this topic, hit the full screen button in the lower right corner and enjoy!
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Itās been re-recorded and is now posted!
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Thanks Cole. I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation. I very much appreciate the time and effort you put into sharing your vision and approach.
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Great idea to feature webinars! Thank you. Cole Thompson will be hard to follow. Thanks so much Cole Thompson for your insights. Over the last few years I have transitioned to only Black and White photography and have found it very rewarding. The way you tackled the nebulous concept of vision brought a concrete clarity to me and has inspired me to a few projects that crystallized while listening to your webinar. Your seemingly spontaneous and innate creativity was equally inspiring has re-ignited a passion in me that frankly had been on the wane this past winter. I have followed your work for some time so I know to expect unique portfolios but I got a kick out of āUkrainians with eyes shutā and was wowed by āTrees from a Trainā. I live in Alaska and have taken the train from Fairbanks to Anchorage. It is a beautiful ride in all seasons, but I never once thought to step out onto the platform in open air to create photographs while moving. My camera always remained in my gear bag till I arrived at a destination Iād picked to photograph, my mind bursting with preconceived ideas of how I would shoot differently the same old iconic places. Thanks again for the eye opener.
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Dear @Cole_Thompson,
Thank you for the inspiration youāve provided me with your re-recorded presentation. I have so much to think about. I really appreciate the theme about finding āvisionā and āletting goā. I am in my second year of practicing fine art photography and I am still trying to find what my vision is. Seems that turning off the noise obscuring my āvisionā is the challenge for me.
I also appreciate how you explained that you never went āproā photographer and that your occupation was in business. I myself work a good day job and have no intentions of quitting. I love that as an enthusiast photographer, I can make a difference for myself #1 and perhaps others in my photography without the pressure of making money or other forms of validation. It seems your art impacted so many different lives by going your own way.
In many ways this presentation went beyond the subject of B&W and went into the essence of the art from your perspective. As @Mark_Clafshenkel said, youāre going to be a tough act to follow in future seminars.
Thanks again to @David_Kingham and NPN staff for having this seminar. What a great value add for being an NPN member!
Cheers,
Michael
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Michael, thank you for taking the time to say those kind things, it is appreciated.
I only talk about things Iāve experienced and believe.
Feel free to contact me if I can ever be of assistance. My email is:
Cole@ColeThompsonPhotography.com
Good luck on your fine art photography!
Cole
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Mark, thanks for those observations and comments! And as much as I appreciate being described as this wonderfully spontaneous and creative photographer, please keep in mind that I only show you the projects that have worked and none of the ugly failures!
Thatās the problem with looking at someoneās best work: you only get to see the good stuff.
Sometime Iāll tell the story of the Ghosts of Great Britain, that was a BIG flop!
Cole
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I find this utterly intriguing. Both from the point-of-view as an ex-pat Brit sojourning in the States and the title of the project ā Ghosts of Great Britain ā how did you approach that one? And I suspect that talking about acknowledged failures could be rather cathartic.
Personally, I think am my own worst critic (in a number of different ways); listening to a professional talking about photographic projects that either failed or didnāt quite come off as expected, why these things happened and what was learned from them could be quite beneficial.
Iām quite used to failure ā most of my efforts are effective fails, but then the occasional success makes it all worthwhile.
Mark Isaac
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Talking about my failures helps keep it real. I hate the pervasive view that āprofessionalsā only take great shots or that they donāt have big failures.
We all do.
And by the way, I am not a professional, but an amateur. I have never worked as a photographer, never taken a class or workshop and have no gallery representation.
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Can it be after 65 years making images and looking at the work and reading the ideas of great photographers I have discovered someone whose work and ideas cracked me open yet again at 78 years of age? This is a truly remarkable videoāboth what Cole says and his work are mind blowing. So glad that I found this website and joined it.
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@Cole_Thompson, I too would love to hear or read more about this story!
@Cole_Thompson, thank you for sharing your thoughts and philosophy ā very inspirational.
@David_Kingham, thank you for making these webinars available retroactively. Very helpful for those of us who cannot attend these as theyāre given.
Cheers,
Jacob
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I really enjoyed watching your webinar. One thing I really appreciated is that you make your points clearly, decisively, and concisely without ambivalence or hesitation. Well thought out and presented.
My favorite point is to shoot what you like and the hell with everything else. You describe it as honest photography, and I have to agree.