Chapter 4 tackles the first stage of the social life of the image: its birth. Ways of understanding the intentions and motivations of image producers are presented followed by a discussion of the social position of image producers and its relevance to understanding images and visual culture. The method of qualitative interview is applied on a case example of a political caricature image.

Why is God as well as justice called the truth? How does truth relate to deserts and the conatus, to beauty, generosity and grace toward others and toward all beings – be they persons, animals, plants, species, econiches, ecosystems, and the monuments of nature and culture?

This chapter explores the contributions of social and personality psychologists to the development of Cold War liberal philosophy and social theory. Psychologists helped to define “totalitarianism,” one of the central concepts of Cold War liberalism, as an expression of individual psychopathology – a result of the failure of people in a given society to develop a coherent, healthy sense of self. This state of psychological health, the antidote to totalitarianism, was often referred to as the “productive” character or personality and was defined by an individual’s capacity to express their selfhood in creative work. Cold War liberals identified myriad techniques to promote the productive character and discourage totalitarian psychopathology, including social-democratic policymaking, new childrearing methods, and the practice of both scientific research and spiritual searching. They also sought to develop productive characters in the supposedly psychologically immature societies of the postcolonial world, an elite-driven approach to social and economic development that laid the groundwork for the rise of neoliberalism and neoconservatism in the late twentieth century. The productive, anti-totalitarian personality, argued many Cold War liberal development experts and their neoliberal and neoconservative successors, was an entrepreneurial personality, the psychic wellspring of economic growth.

William James dedicates two lectures of his Varieties of Religious Experience to what he calls “The Sick Soul.” In these lectures, William combines pragmatist insights, anecdotal commentary, and examples from literary history to explore the phenomenon of human suffering. James, I argue, stresses a hermeneutics of suffering that does not inevitably comply with the promise of an experiential openness towards understanding. Rather, he treats suffering both a source of and a challenge to such an openness, and he thus offers an understanding of suffering that is indicative of a larger discourse in philosophical thinking. In a comparative reading of James’s Varieties, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s struggle with the death of his son Waldo, and Hans-Georg Gadamer’s Truth and Method, I will discuss suffering as a way of understanding that allows us, in turn, to make suffering accessible to understanding as such. James, Emerson, and Gadamer remind us that suffering is neither self-serving nor self-sufficient. As it marks an impaired connectivity within the self and between self and world, hermeneutics of suffering expresses a failed sense of connectivity and conditions the sufferer’s reconnection with the social world. Both in reading and in writing, James, Emerson, and Gadamer recurrently turn to literary and philosophical imagination to test the limits of action and passion, of doing and enduring, to center suffering as a hermeneutic process that may be unavoidable in the human experience, but that always already entails the conditions of its own overcoming.

The notion of making it big has different meanings for different people. Sometimes it is a precise moment in time when everything clicks. Other times, it can be a slow process. And sometimes, a big break that took many years can look like an overnight sensation to the outside world. People in this chapter talk about how the creative life isn’t always about fame and acclaim.

Artists can have a wide variety of relationships with their parents. We have already discussed supportive relationships. Sometimes, artists have parents who are simply uninterested. Other times, they have parents who are worried about their child’s ability to support themselves if they pursue the arts. In these cases, most parents could be won over by their child’s hard work and passion; if not, a taste of success was usually enough to win over a hesitant parent.

Many young artists try their hand at a variety of creative forms. Even those who know their passion early on may still dabble a bit in related domains, often fueled by the need to explore different artforms and endless curiosity. Many artists might use insights or skills learned in one domain throughout their career, even if they ultimately do not keep creating in that area. Some artists whose stories are told in this chapter kept shifting areas into college and young adulthood. Most stayed within the arts, but some found their way to the arts from other areas from sports to science. Other times, artists will work across multiple domains for their whole career.

Creative careers can complicate daily living. In this chapter, we talk about complications that arise in romantic and family relationships. Some people talk about the challenges of financial instability, others emphasize the need for selfishness and time to focus on creative work. Some discuss interactions between their creative work and parenting. Ultimately, compromise is key.

Some artists specialize in one very narrow type of creative output while others create in a wider range of areas. In this chapter, artists talk about how they view their creative output. Some talk about how they focus their work in one area, others juggle more than one related domain, still others create in two quite divergent domains, and one artist talks about how she juggles artistic and more traditional careers.

Culture can be a source of identity, including topics such as nationality, religion, race, and personal background. Culture can be an artistic inspiration, which can encompass many dimensions. Artists can want to share and teach, to process controversial social issues, and to engage in self-discovery. In this chapter, artists share how their culture shapes their creative output. For some, art enables them to address difficult topics that might not otherwise see the light of day.

When do artists feel that first intense pull toward creation? Some artists know early in their lives what they want to do with their lives. Sometimes, artists feel like their specific art choice has always been a key part of their identities. Other times, there is a sudden jolt of insight in which they realize their life path, whether from a gift, a moment of creation, or working on an artistic project in tandem with a friend or sibling. Peer support and approval can be a powerful reinforcement to pursue one’s artistic passion.

Artists can get their first inspiration for what they want to do in their lives when they see another person’s work. Early encounters with theater, television shows, movies, books, or music can serve as catalysts for a lifetime in the arts. At the most fundamental level, experiencing the art of others can demonstrate that such a career pathway is possible. In this chapter, artists remember moments of seeing, hearing, watching, or experiencing a life-changing piece of art. Some artists continue in that specific domain, whereas others might be initially inspired by one domain but find a better artistic home in another domain. An artist’s early efforts may even be directly inspired by another piece of work.

Mentors can play a pivotal role in inspiring creativity in young artists. Some encourage by example. Others discover previously hidden talents or nascent abilities. Mentors can also teach young artists to trust in themselves and their talents. The chapter outlines how some mentors act as informal advisors, others are teachers who take on this added role, and still others are part of a more formalized mentoring system. In addition, the artists in this chapter discuss how they pass the baton to the next generation of creative people, both through informal mentoring and teaching. A related topic is how artists find that their art benefits from teaching others.

Although the research literature refutes the standard wisdom that schools kill creativity, there can still be some unfortunate exceptions. Some artists felt that their creativity not only did not help them do well on the standard metrics of traditional school performance, but it may have even impaired their scores. Other artists encountered truly terrible teachers who were rigid, intolerant, and prone to punish too much question-asking; a few even sucked the joy out of their art (at least temporarily).

Artists might start out in one area or job and end up finding their best home in a slightly adjacent area. It might take moments or decades to land in the right spot, but the skills and lessons initially learned can still pay off in a related area. Even circuitous or winding pathways can take an artist where they need to go.