Softcover, 32 pages
10.5 inches x 14 inches
26.67 x 35.56 cm
Summer 2021

Todd Cole's Spirit Myth project was born out a desire to create a new mythology around his home of Hollywood, California. For a century, young dreamers have walked Hollywood Boulevard, full of unbridled ambition chasing a dream. Cole befriended one of these young dreamers, a local skateboarder named Ryan Holland. Together, they journeyed onto Hollywood Boulevard, without a plan or expectations, and found the light. The photographic moments revealed themselves.

Concurrently, Todd began photographing, once a day, wild rushes of succulents and cacti at the end of his street. Juxtaposing these portraits of old growth cacti with the portraits of Ryan released a beautiful tension between the seemingly ancient landscape, contrasted against the temporality of the idealistic young dreamer.

These two dichotomies merged into a singular vision, and he began to see the shimmer of a myth—a myth about transience, permanence, and dreams.

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Todd Cole is an internationally acclaimed photographer and filmmaker who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Originally from Texas, Cole moved to the filmmaking capital and fell in love with the light and expansive skies of the Southern California landscape. His photographic work is suffused with the sun, ocean and dust-filled air of his environment, which he contrasts with the ephemeral and idiosyncratic nature of his subjects. The moments he captures are fleeting, candid, and tell a story of love and ennui, beauty and banality. His images have appeared in many international publications, including i-D, Purple, Self Service, POP, 032C, T Magazine, Vogue, NY Times Style Magazine, The Fader, Art Review, and The Journal, among others. His photography book, I’m Yours To Keep, was published in 2012 by AndPress.