Weight (Project III Artist Statement) /  by Niclaus Cook

When life presents problems, as it does, weight is formed. Its approximated that the weight of gravity keeping our feet on the ground is equivalent to four school buses sitting on our shoulders. That is a lot of weight, but nothing, compared to the heaviness that befalls our shoulders in times of hardship. There are hardships of sadness and pain, there are hardships of financial doubt and hunger, hardships of gain and loss. The list can continue. These are all weights. Weight that is bared upon our shoulders. 

What of these shoulders though, or rather the person they belong to, bearing this weight? What becomes of that person, or maybe you, in that time the weight is bared. 

For me. For you.

It is within this time that we are lost to the shadows, where the only light may be the one we create for ourselves. We have frustration. Wistful thinking of where we could be, and what we could be doing. We have a sinking filling, one that is engulfing, slowly creeping its way around you.

This is what someone holding life’s weight is up against. These pictures do not show the grief and sorrow, the problems themselves, or the pain and sadness. 

They are meant to show the weight. 

Culture /  by Niclaus Cook

I am fresh from a week stay in the city. It’s a very unique place. The smells, claustrophobic inducing buildings and many shops that indulge my obsessions. Of those obsessions, coffee is what prompted this piece. San Francisco is home to many coffee shops and roasters. Sightglass, Bluebottle, Saint Franks… oh Saint Franks… Ritual Roasters… Philz Coffee… I could go on and on. Each shop is very different in its styling and taste. What remains constant is the pursuit of excellent coffee. But perhaps even more then that– the pursuit of sharing the experience of coffee. There is culture here. A connection and understanding between the roasters and the patrons who fund the shops. I was able to pick up volume 3 of the delightful Drift magazine. A publication dedicated to documenting the culture of coffee. 

    However, it was not the title that drew my eye to the oddly dusty stack of books being sold. It was the the photo, Which is why this post is relevant to the class. A black and white ariel shot of the yet-to-be-known-by-me place. As I began flipping through the pages I was struck by the images I saw. 
    I should mention now that the topic of this issue was Havana. The US-Cuba relations have been improving, meaning that the great well spring of coffee culture that resides in Cuba, is finally being tapped.

Now back to flipping through the pages… I was struck by the images of people sipping short demitasse cups of coffee, photos of different streets and homes. I was looking at the culture of the cuban people in these photographs, but I was also looking at the culture of coffee. Coffee is deeply ingrained in the culture of Cuba as it is in the Italian. It is not a quick pick me up. It is a drink of deep contemplative preparation that is drank among familiar faces. It is a symbol of community and unity. 
    The photos, which are attributed to two individuals. Adam Goldberg (the founder/creator of the Drift) and Daniela Velasco seemed to capture this. They made me think about how I shoot. I scourer over the portfolios of photographers all the time, most of the time I think to myself “those are cool…” “I like that concept… or what is this photo saying…” Then there are times when I come across photos that make me say “I want to take those photos!” for me those are the pictures that speak the most. 

And that is exactly what these pictures did for me. 

As a quick side note. The pictures in this post are a mix of official press images and my own pictures of the actually book. None are my own original conceptions and I do not attempt to take credit for them.