Dear Cole,

How does one refine their eye? How do you see uniquely? How do you find your own vision? Must a person be born with artistic talent or can it be developed?

Not a day goes by that I don't wonder about the creative process. For most of my life I felt that I lacked artistic talent and so I pursued photography. I calculated that with photography, mastering the technical skills would compensate for my lack of creative ones.

And so for years I pursued technically perfect work and strove to imitate the look of photographers I admired, such as Ansel Adams. However, my work was imitative and it lacked spirit.

Then one day it hit me; there already was an Ansel Adams and nobody would ever do Ansel better than Ansel. And was that really the extent of my ambition, to copy someone else's work? I came to realize that I needed to create work that was uniquely mine.

This epiphany forced me to re-examine the assumption that I lacked creative ability, because if that were true I was consigned to being yet another Ansel imitator.

What I have come to believe is that we all have creative abilities, but for some like myself, it's just buried beneath a lot of other "stuff." Consequently, I must work harder to bring it out and develop those talents.

I think this is true for everyone, that each of us have a unique perspective and ability that can be developed. So if you've also pursued photography because you feared you had no talent, take heart, it's not true.

Cole

I just ran across a website called Spirit Clips, and they apparently produce their own inspirational videos. The one I am recommending this month is "The Hospital Window."

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