Yesterday 15 of us were lucky enough to spend a day with Cole Thompson at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Ft. Collins, Colorado. There was no talk about lenses or cameras; we talked about artistic vision. It was an introspective and philosophical experience.
To give you a sense of where Cole went with our group, here is a collection of quotes from the day:
–“You can have a technically perfect, yet soul-less, photo.”
–“Technical ability cannot compensate for artistic vision.”
–“We all know instinctively how we want the scene to look. The task is to put that on paper.”
–“The miracle isn’t Photoshop; the miracle is the vision.”
–On copying the works of the masters: “Ansel has already done Ansel. What are you doing to further your vision?”
–“How do I know when an image complies to my vision? When the image is uniquely mine and is not a copy of anything else.”
–On the so-called “experts” in the schools and galleries: “I want an expert when I’m getting a colonoscopy. I don’t want an “expert” when they are judging my art.”
–“Vision is not limiting, it is freeing.”
–“With vision, good images are everywhere.”
Finally, Cole’s Rule of Thirds:
A great image comes from 1/3 vision, 1/3 the capture, and 1/3 processing.