Final answer:
The speaker admires the emotional detachment (coldness) photographers must maintain to capture intense moments artistically while drawing a parallel to his own ability to emotionally detach in the face of personal probing by others.
Step-by-step explanation:
The text presents a speaker who is reflecting on the nature of photography and what it entails for the photographer. The speaker is exploring the tension between admiring the intensity of the moments captured in photographs while recognizing a certain emotional distance required by the photographers. When the speaker asks, “Was it the coldness?”, it points to the possibility that the photographers need to remain emotionally detached to succeed in their craft. This detachment, viewed as a coldness, could be a reference to the emotional remove photographers maintain to capture the intensity of a moment without their feelings influencing their work. The phrase “good eye” suggests an admiration for this ability to disconnect emotionally and still produce artistically compelling images.
In the context of the other quoted passage, the focus shifts to the speaker's personal experience with photographs and how others perceive him, suggesting a parallel to the photographers' detachment. Despite curiosity or sympathy from others, the speaker maintains his composure, recognizing the unasked question about his identity. This suggests that the speaker, like the photographers he admires, can maintain a form of emotional control in the face of a complex social situation.