2. Welcome to
VISION
Keeping the Spirit Alive
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Does Art always have to be beautiful? Is its only purpose to serve the audience with a joyful
experience of awe and magnificence or can it also be used by the artists as another language to
express a variety of difficult emotions? This may infinitely differ for different eyes of the beholder,
but all can agree that art comes from the heart in order to touch the heart. If we're lucky
something is presented in such a unique way as to change hearts, minds and eyes.
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That is exactly what Cole Thompson has done in his body of work ‘Auschwitz – Birkenau’. This
presentation came from the depths of the heart to convey the heights of the spirit of those who
have lived and died in Auschwitz –Birkenau. During the Second World War Winston Churchill’s
advisors urged him to cut down on the budget allocated to the arts to divert more funding into the
security war efforts. Churchill’s answer was: “Then what are we fighting for?” In honor of all those
that have lived and died in the Nazi death camps, we dedicate this issue.
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What comes from the heart speaks to the heart - Jewish aphorism
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Sincerely,
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Joel, Sharon, Armand and Daniel
The Vision Explorers Team
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3. Melbourne
Great Ocean Road
May / June, 2014
In 2014 the Vision Explorers team will be heading to Australia for two exciting workshops.
We’ll start off with 3 day a fine art architectural photography workshop in Melbourne,
Australia’s architectural hotspot, on May 30 - June 1, 2014.
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The following weekend we’ll be offering a 3 day fine art seascape and landscape
photography workshop along the Great Ocean Road, one of the most spectacular stretches
of coast line in the world. Join us for this unique photography adventure on June 6 - 8, 2014.
visionexplorers.com/melbourne-2014
6. I would like to set the stage for
leave my equipment onboard, I
beginning of the tour and a
telling the story of how The
not planned on photographing
me. I am not claustrophobic, but I
this image, Auschwitz No. 14, by
Ghosts of Auschwitz-Birkenau
came about.
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My wife and I were visiting my
carried it with me. However I had
there as I thought it might be
sacrilegious or at least in bad
taste.
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son who was serving in the
The tour started indoors and we
I'm part Polish, we decided to visit
detailed descriptions of the
Peace Corps in Ukraine. Because
Poland and stayed in Krakow. As
we planned our activities, the
family voted on visiting
Auschwitz-Birkenau. This did not
please me for I am a sensitive. I
am saddened by certain
situations and try to avoid them,
and visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau
was certainly one of those
situations. But the family had
needed to get out of that room
and into open air, and so I
signalled to my family that I was
going outside.
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were shown photographs and
Once outside and breathing
prisoners before they were
very slowly and looking down at
murdered. I was struck by how
beautiful the black and white
portraits were of the prisoners,
clearly the photographer was
talented. But it all seemed so odd
to me, why go to all that trouble
to document a person you were
about to murder?
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voted and so along I went.
Then we visited the rooms with
because it was not safe for me to
and hair. This was just the
We arrived on a tour bus and
feeling of suffocation overcame
the iconic piles of glasses, shoes
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easier, I found myself walking
my feet. I began to wonder about
those who had walked in these
very same footsteps and were
now dead. I thought about the
people who had walked this
same path and then had been
murdered. I wondered,
metaphorically perhaps, if their
spirits still lingered here? And
then it hit me, I must photograph
the spirits of those who had lived
and died at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
7. My goal was to portray AuschwitzBirkenau as a place where real people
lived and died, and not just a historical
place or a museum.
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8. I wish I could take credit for
photography). My rule of thirds
me that they don't follow the rules
each image, but I cannot. I
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image in particular where a
carefully and thoughtfully planning
states:
arrived at the camp with no
A great image is comprised of
left two hours later with 16
processing.
intention of photographing and I
images. I saw, I felt and I created.
1/3 vision, 1/3 the shot and 1/3
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There was no time for thinking. I
A great image begins and ends
instinct and then literally ran to
concept to describe, but I think
composed and photographed by
the next location. My goal? To
portray Auschwitz-Birkenau as a
place where real people lived and
died, and not just a historical
place or a museum.
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creative process.
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But I do have one rule that I
religiously follow and I call it
Cole's Rule of Thirds (I'm poking
a little fun at the rules of
the center line.
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absolutely perfect! This kind of
we want our image to look, and
our job as an artist is to bring that
image into compliance with our
vision.
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process becomes the servant
planning actually hurts my
shouldn’t have put the horizon on
each of us instinctively know how
are not a result of following
that way and find that such
follow the rule of thirds and that I
I marvelled that she could not
When we pursue an image with
formulas or rules. I do not work
woman told me that it didn’t
with your vision. Vision is a tough
My creations are not calculated,
they are not pre-planned and they
of composition. I remember one
vision, then equipment and
and the creative process the
master. It’s only then that great
images can occur.
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When I am following my Vision, I
am guided by my feelings. I look
at a scene and compose it so
that feels right. I've had people
look at my images and then tell
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see that the composition was
blindness is one of the reasons I
advocate not knowing or
following the rules. Look, see and
think for yourself. Working with
Vision doesn't mean that you're
always spot on; most of my
images end up on the cutting
room floor and the public never
sees those failures. But following
your Vision is so much better than
trying to distill a great
composition down to a few rules.
Those rules may create safe and
mildly pleasing images that are
suitable for a pretty calendar, but
they'll never create great images
that you'll love and be proud of.
11. These are long exposures and I
the tourists saw my camera on a
I envisioned this as a very dark
the camp as proxies for those
out of my way, which is exactly
underexposed my images by
used the unsuspecting visitors at
who had lived and died there. I
had some previous experience
with long exposures and so I was
somewhat prepared for this idea.
However I didn't have experience
using long exposures to turn
people into ghosts, and so I
wasn't sure if it would work.
tripod, they would politely move
what I didn’t want! So I quickly
devised a trick to lure them back
in: I would turn my back on the
camera and talk on my cell
phone. Then they would move
back in, and using a remote
shutter release, I would trigger
series with bright ghosts. I
about one stop to give a dark
feeling to them, and then further
burned down all distractions from
the scene including the skies. I
then dodged up the ghosts so
that the eye was drawn to them.
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the shutter.
But the most important element
its immediate feedback,
I had to take a number of images
was my Vision, not my long
created these images in two
ghosting effect is dependent
Thank goodness for digital with
otherwise I could not have
hours and I certainly could not
have done this with film.
At each location I was faced with
an unexpected challenge; when
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at each location because the
upon people moving, and so if
someone stopped during the
exposure, the image didn’t work.
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in the creation of these images
exposure technique or my
Photoshop processing skills.
Vision drove the image from start
to finish: it guided the shot and
directed the post-processing.
13. Most of the time, and certainly for
this body of work, I instantly know
how I want the image to look. For
and only then is the Vision
possible. I strongly disagree.
The Ghosts of Auschwitz-
I think the better way to approach
to find my Vision, but rather how
then to develop the skills as they
Birkenau the challenge was not
to translate that Vision onto
paper.
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I had never done work like this
before and so I had to develop
the Photoshop skills to make it
possible. Many photographers
believe that the skills come first,
art is to know what you want and
are required to fulfil that Vision.
Too often we as photographers
are very good at the technical,
reasons. Compositionally I think
it's a good image and the
rendering of the ghosts shows a
lot of energy and anger. Another
other reason it's a personal
favorite is because it reminds me
of the fate of the camp
commandant Rudolf Hoess.
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but we are weak on the Vision.
To the right of the guard tower is
perfect but soulless images.
him after his trial, this is the
This can create technically
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Auschwitz No. 14 is my favorite
image from the series for many
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the gallows where the Poles hung
same location where he would
torture and kill camp dissidents.
14. The most important element in the creation of these
images was my Vision, not my long exposure technique
or my Photoshop processing skills.
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