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Dear Cole,
Since I announced that I was going to England, many
people wrote to say "I cannot wait to see the new
images, I know they'll be great!" You cannot imagine the
pressures those expectations puts on me, I couldn't stop
thinking "what if I don't get anything?"
I did
go with certain intentions; to photograph Stonehenge and
to do a series of Ghost images at the Castles of Great
Britain. However sometimes your plans and fates' are in
conflict, and you know who always wins (smile). More on
that later in the newsletter.
It's been a while
since I've shown new images, I hope you enjoy them and
I'd love to hear your thoughts. You know that I always
value your opinion.
Cole
~
You probably know that I'm a sucker for inspirational
videos, and especially the ones that show the
determination of the human spirit. Well, this month I
had two and could not bring myself to eliminate one, so
here they both are:
P.S. Ben Underwood died of cancer on January
19, 2009.
~
If you cannot properly see or read this newsletter,
please view it online by clicking Here.
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Stonehenge |
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(Stonehenge
- England)
The best-laid plans of
mice and men often go awry. (From "To a Mouse"
by Robert Burns)
>From the moment I
decided to go to England I had a vision of
photographing Stonehenge; and also from the very
start I had problems arranging it. By the time we
were to leave, I had basically given up on the
possibility of getting into the inner circle,
nothing had gone right and I felt consigned to
photograph it from the distance of the pedestrian
walkway.
But surprisingly we met a man who
worked at Stonehenge and who just made things
happen for us. He arranged an appointment at that
very late date, and it seemed the game was back
on!
Two days later we arrived at 8 am for
our one hour in the inner circle. I was pretty
excited and hoped this would be my chance; the
weather was perfect, cloudy and dull, and as we
entered the circle I thought...this is it!
And then it started to rain, no pour, for
the next hour. I suddenly realized why people in
England have umbrellas, it wasn't a light rain
like we get in Colorado, it was a constant
downpour.
It rained so heavily that I
could hardly keep the lens clear to get a shot.
After the hour was up I walked back to the car
soaked and frozen, and it then stopped raining for
the remainder of the trip.
True story.
For whatever reason, I didn't feel too
badly about it. I just accepted it and hoped that
I'd get at least one shot out of it all, and I
did. Ironically the image above, was taken from
the distant pedestrian walkway on the first day.
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The Ghosts of Great Britain
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(Old
Wardour Castle - England)
Another idea
I had envisioned was photographing Ghosts at the
castles of Great Britain. Unlike "The Ghosts of
Auschwitz and Birkenau" where I used the
unsuspecting visitors as ghosts, for this trip I
came armed with my wife, daughter and a white
sheet.
The results? Well, let's say that I
learned a great deal about what doesn't work and
only a little about what does. I did successfully
create a few images for this new series and so now
the question is, what will I do to complete it?
Perhaps another trip and a new white sheet
might be in my future.
View
the Ghosts of Great Britain.
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Image at the Moab Photo Symposium
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(Mill
Creek Falls - Moab, UT)
I sure had a
great time at The Moab Photo Symposium! Great
scenery, perfect weather and wonderful people. If
you get a chance to attend next year, please
consider it.
While conducting my workshop,
I took an image with the group and then processed
it to demonstrate my techniques. This is the
image.
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Pongsatorn Sukhum - Underwater Fine Art
Photography |
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(Abyss
by Pongsatom Sukhum)
Outside of my
family, my two great loves are photography and
diving, and so I was awestruck when I saw the work
of Pongsatorn Sukhum. He creates Underwater Fine
Art Photography and I love it. He was born in
England, raised in Thailand and has recently
created a photo essay titled "Bringing Wrecks to
Life."
Visit
Pongsatorn's Website
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Happenings |
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(Old
Sarum Castle - England)
- Silvershotz has published my portfolio "The
Ghosts of Auschwitz and Birkenau" in the current
issue (Volume 5, Issue 5). This is the third
major publication to feature this work and of
all three, I enjoyed the article in Silvershotz
the best. Published out of Australia, it was
until somewhat recently, a silver publication.
It's reproductions are excellent and it is an
honor to be featured there.
- After much delay, I've finally chosen a
writer to work with on the "Ukrainians, With
Eyes Shut" magazine article project. Karen
Marcus of Final Draft Communications lives close
to me and has a wide range of writing
experience. We met last week and I was very
happy that she is excited about the article. My
sincere thanks to everyone who offered
assistance, I appreciate the many friends that I
have.
- The Sun Magazine has accepted my
"Ukrainians, With Eyes Shut" images for
publication. When and how they will appear is
still not known, but the work is usually coupled
with a complementary literary piece.
- I've been asked to jury "Image 2009" at the
West Nebraska Art Center on June 4th.
- I've been invited to exhibit my portfolio
"Light Emanating from Darkness" at the
University of Minnesota in April of 2010.
- I'll be presenting at the Loveland
Photographic Society on June 8th, the topic is
"Why Black and White?"
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Cole Thompson Retrospective - Folio
Sale |
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(The
Angel Gabriel - Newport Beach, CA)
People seemed to enjoy both the images and
the pricing of my "Monoliths" folio from the
previous newsletter. So this month I'm offering a
ten image retrospective folio, at the same price
of $150.
I consider these ten images my
best and my favorites. Picking only ten is
difficult, but I felt these images demonstrated
the range and variety of my work. I love each one
of them.
The images are printed on
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308, a heavy 100% cotton rag
stock, and the images are either 6.7 X 10
(horizontal) or 7.5 X 7.5 (square).
The
folio is priced at $150, please contact me
directly for further information or to purchase
the folio.
View
the Images in the Retrospective Folio
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A Parting Shot |
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(Smile - London, England)
While in
London, I stumbled across a College graduation and
took a shot over the shoulder of the picture
taker. After a few of these, at various locations,
I started enjoying it.
Perhaps there is a
future portfolio here.
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