A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words. What Are Your Pictures Saying About You?
By Michael Douglas Carlin
Bank of America in Century City has had numerous complaints about the art displayed in the back of the bank. Customers complain to Anthony, the branch manager, about the Bank taking TARP money while at the same time displaying art worth millions of dollars.
Too pricy of art might send the wrong message to your customers. Cheap art might also send the wrong message. The fine line that says community might be at your doorstep today. How about art that speaks to your clients and employees about the human condition? How about art that documents what is happening to animals on our planet? How about art that documents the changes that are happening to our MOTHER EARTH?
I grew up in a lighting and grip house in Burbank. My father was a lighting director and I spent many days working with photographers. I have worked with hundreds and I have grown to know the good ones from the bad just by being present at the photographing event. The bad ones often get occasionally lucky with a random shot that gets acclaim. The good ones don’t take pictures…they make pictures. I was never able to put this into words until I heard Colin Finlay tell me this over lunch one day. Taking pictures has the connotation of being a spectator at the event. Making pictures brings the photographer into the fabric of the event as a participant.
I knew there was something different about Colin Finlay and his work when I saw his photos. I have seen literally millions of photos in my lifetime and I recognized that a high percentage of his photos were exceptional if not brilliant. I only came to understand him as a photographer when I actually was present at one photographing event. I arranged for Colin to visit “Star Echo Station” in Culver City. I was introduced to “Star” by Stephen Nemeth at his birthday party a couple of years ago and grew to love the place. This is where animals that have been illegally brought into the country are confiscated and sent.
Star has the ability to care for wild animals and they provide a sanctuary that school children can visit to learn about the plight of endangered species as well as what we all can do to help heal our environment. I phoned ahead and talked to someone there and suggested that we visit to take some photos. I was informed about the rules and the documents that would need to be signed for us to visit. I suggested to them that they look up Colin on the internet. I got the feeling that being able to take photographs there was a common request and that there had been procedures established to minimize the number that actually followed through.
When we arrived they knew who Colin was and all of the procedure went out the window. They were grateful he had showed up to see what they were doing. The conversation was very genuine. Two great institutions were meeting for the first time. They abandoned all protocol and opened the cages of wild animals and allowed us to enter for a photographic experience I will always remember. I personally witnessed Colin transform into a quiet almost silent communicator of animals. The respect that he gave them from the moment he met them seemed to tell them that he was there to help others understand them. He seemed to ask them for their photo and they responded by giving Colin a performance. Each animal was different. I felt like I could almost understand what each animal was saying but I knew that Colin understood. In that moment I came to understand the emotion that each animal feels. I was always taught that human beings were the only life forms that can feel emotion. On that day this myth was forever shattered in my mind. I felt the enormous intelligence of the birds. I felt the longing of the cats for the days when they roamed free. I felt the sorrow that all animals feel at being pushed off of the face of the Earth.
I had heard Colin say that every time he made a photograph he left a little of himself behind and that every time he also took a little of his subject with him. I came to understand just what that meant, that day at Star Echo Station. I came to understand just how Colin got such incredible photographs of the Polar Bears, Grizzlies, Elephants and all other animals that he established this trance like connection with. Keep in mind that in the wild he often gets 15 feet or less away from some of the most dangerous animals. He told me about being less than 12 feet away from a family of Grizzlies. At any moment it could have gone wrong and he could have been killed.
Colin is no stranger to danger. He has documented, through his photos, both sides of the conflict in the Holy land. Colin has also travelled to Darfur, Rwanda, Northern Ireland and many other places documenting conflict. He has faced numerous situations that seemed hopeless with bullets flying but so far has managed to return with some incredible photographs. Colin has seen man’s inhumanity to man first hand. Colin has witnessed outright genocide. His book “Testify” brought awareness of the conflict in the Sudan where the Janjaweed are being hired by the Sudanese Government to drive the Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit from their homes and lands, killing the men and brutally raping the women.
I met Colin at Bill Pruitt’s “Men’s Night”. This is a group of Westside men that meet to talk about the issues of the day. That particular night I was with my very good friend Sir Edward and he was sharing the floor with Colin Finlay. Colin spoke first and showed photographs of places Ed had been. Colin captured the images in such a way that evoked a memory response in Ed where he could actually remember the smell he had experienced when he was there. I watched as these men talked about these places…literally dozens of them where they visited hours apart. They talked about details that only someone who had been there would know. The conversation broke down into weeping and an embrace for two warriors who had approached the same issues and places from a different perspective and had drawn the same conclusions. To this day the two men are still very close and will forever share the bond of the inhumanity they witnessed. A part of both of these men was left behind at each place they visited and a part of that place will forever remain with them. Ed brought relief into these dangerous places and Colin photographed them but both men came to understand that we as human beings can’t allow this type of criminal activity to continue and both men are champions of ending it forever.
What you have on your walls says a lot about you…I suggest that you allow a part of Colin Finlay and the places he has documented to speak to your employees and clients that you join with all of us in ending the tragedies that have been allowed to go unchecked – until now.
The Century City News is hosting a VIP reception for Mr. Finlay on September 23, 2009 at 6 PM to be held at Cal National Bank on the corner of Avenue of the Stars and Santa Monica Blvd. (1800 AOS). The event is sponsored by The Century City News and Cal National Bank additional sponsorship opportunities are available. I am personally inviting every reader of the Century City News to attend the event. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet one of the world’s most active eco-warriors. Meet someone who has actually travelled to the four corners of the world to see with his own eyes what is happening to our planet and hear his message of hope that we can turn it all around before we reach the tipping point. Reach out to your friends from around the city and invite them out to hear first hand accounts of ecological disasters and recovery opportunities.
For more information on Mr. Finlay I refer you to his website at www.colinfinlay.com
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