Do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has much difficulty and sadness and remains far behind yours. Were it otherwise he would never have been able to find those words.
—Rainer Maria Rilke
Disclaimer: If you are the sort of person who requires “trigger warnings” for certain kinds of content, please stop reading here. This is your warning.
I am committed to keeping my writings within the boundaries of good taste and have no desire to offend or upset anyone. However, I also wish to maintain my freedom to write about any topic and to express any opinion without worrying about who might be upset, offended, or triggered by it.
Artist Statement
In my work, I use the medium of photography and elements of places that are personally meaningful to me, aiming to create expressive art—images meant to convey emotions, to imply sensations, to inspire moods, to elevate the spirit. My photographs are not meant to be pictures of things; they are meant to be pictures about things.
I concede that this artist statement, like previous versions I have attempted, may not fully represent at the time you read it the work I create, or my reasons for creating it. I offer it here to satisfy a common request by formulaic publications and curators who value consistency and predictability in an artist’s work: qualities I find largely boring. In truth, I strive to express who I am and what is on my mind at the time I make my work: qualities that are constantly changing and evolving. Whatever I have to say in and about my work tomorrow may be different from anything I may have to say about my work today.
My photographs are not intended to commemorate the appearance of any specific place nor to testify to the occurrence of any event. To a large degree, they are faithful to real views (if sometimes witnessed in extraordinary circumstances), but just as often they are composed and processed deliberately to elicit specific emotional connotations for which the identity of the things or places portrayed is entirely irrelevant.
To better understand my work, please take a few moments to read my Pledge of Ethics.
—Guy Tal