November 7, 2014

Why I Create

Bent Grass

When I was 14 and discovered photography, I created images for just one reason: for the pure joy of creating and personal satisfaction.

But over time I found that my motivations changed and I started to create for others and for praise.

Then I found myself creating to build a resume. I thought that I needed to prove, by the length of my resume, that I was a good photographer.

Then came the desire for fame. I created because I wanted to become famous and to be known as a great photographer.

Now at age 60 I have come full circle and it’s like I’m 14 years old again.

Once again I am creating simply for the joy of creating and for the satisfaction that comes when I craft an image that I love.

How ironic that a 46 year journey would take me to the same place where I started from.

I am so glad that I found my way back.

Cole

P.S. The above image was created a couple of years ago and it has always been a favorite of mine, but only today while writing this blog post did I understand why. It reminds me of what it was like to be 14 years old again, when I created for myself and didn’t care what anyone else thought.

 

23 thoughts on “Why I Create

  1. A beautiful image to say the least, I love black & white. You are a lucky man Cole, to have found your way back to 14 again. 🙂

  2. In your first paragraph, you say that, when you were fourteen, you created images for just one reason, then you give two reasons. Which one was the more important?

  3. I only wish I could be like that cole,must be so fulfilling still I’m a youngster at 52 so have a bit of a journey ahead of me yet 🙂 your photography is Im sure so very inspiring to a lot of people including myself ,so original and a quality to strive towards.
    Kind regards nick

  4. Well done Cole. It’s so difficult to allow one’s self the permission to be free of expectations, our own and others. I believe your transition truly shows in your work. Best wishes.

  5. Quite the coincidence. Today I had lunch with an art educator and curator of exhibitions who I greatly admire. I told her that my biggest challenge as a photographer is to capture the innocence of completely open exploration and inquisitiveness that my children had when they were very young and I presumed I had as well – don’t all children? Over time the blinders get narrower and narrower and now, at age 68, I am trying to reverse the trend. It’s a work in progress.

  6. Cole,

    Greetings from Silver City N.M. (great authentic Mexican food with Hatch chile’s).

    The famous psychologist, Maslo, would call this his highest state of development,”Self Actualization”. Joseph Campbell would call it “The Hero’s Journey”. I would call it very cool.

    Sam

  7. One must be true to one’s self. I have traveled the road you speak of Cole and I felt like a phony…and I knew it. I also knew that when I created an image JUST FOR ME that I felt a deep down satisfaction and a release of joy. Something like the feeling (tears) one can experience with moving music. Knowing the difference, I prefer to work with my muse and not a curator, to create my art. And I might add, trying to make money from your photography is a worthy goal but not at the expense of your artistic soul.

  8. The innocents and fearlessness of childhood is wonderful, isn’t it. Just like toddlers babbling among others, they understand what they are saying, if others do not then the error belongs to the others. We are only expressing the world we see and the lives we live. I babble… a lot.

  9. Since I didn’t start expressing my “creative side” until late in life (after an intense career), I am trying to do it for the sheer joy of it. Hard, because we want validation, but occasionally very personally rewarding.

  10. Sherry, just get into the moment of image capture and creation of your vision. There is nothing else to do. Breath, Relax, click, create. Your mind and heart will give all of the validation that you will need. I would bet you that in some way Cole and others would agree. I would think that he did not create his beautiful work by worrying about the thoughts of others.

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