Guy Tal | Photographer, Author
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A happy life must be one in which there is activity. If it is also to be a useful life, the activity ought to be as far as possible creative . . . But creative activity requires imagination and originality, which are apt to be subversive of the status quo. —Bertrand Russell In scientific literature,... Continue Reading →
It is unfortunate, to say the least, that the tremendous capacity photography has for revealing new things in new ways should be overlooked or ignored by the majority of its exponents—but such is the case. —Edward Weston Henri Matisse, known for his expressive use of color, was one of the most creative and prolific artists... Continue Reading →
This post expands on an article I originally wrote for LensWork Magazine. In this longer version, I incorporated some ideas emerging out of recent thinking about photography’s standing as an art form, relative to other media. These thoughts may lead to more writing on this topic in the coming weeks. As always, if you find... Continue Reading →
Some photographic movements have had a following in America, but none has ever held sway for any length of time. The Photo-Secession, documentary photography, photo-journalism, f/64, all made valuable individual contributions, but they all had to give way to the self-assertive individual photographer. Of course, individual photographers do bind themselves to certain limiting systems of... Continue Reading →
A couple of days ago I've had the pleasure of spending a day with Brooks Jensen, photographer and publisher of LensWork Magazine. We've had many good conversations, and even recorded one of them. Hope you enjoy it! Of course, if you wish to order autographed copies of my books, I would appreciate it. They are... Continue Reading →
Sometimes, the only way to discover who you are or what life you should lead is to do less planning and more living—to burst the double bubble of comfort and convention and just do stuff, even if you don’t know precisely where it’s going to lead, because you don’t know precisely where it’s going to... Continue Reading →
We all agree that our senses and emotions are engaged when we look at art, but we do not readily appreciate the prominent role that knowledge plays in this experience. ~Arthur Shimamura Winters are hard in this desert. Hard for me, that is. I am a being maladapted to this environment: improperly equipped to survive... Continue Reading →
This incessant interplay between cognition and feelings [...] produces what we call consciousness. There obviously is a different feel to a wave of intense emotion versus an abstract thought, but each conscious form is an experience that gives us a unique perception of reality. The pattern in which these various conscious forms come in and... Continue Reading →
There are so many stories, more beautiful than answers. ~Mary Oliver For several years now I’ve been coming to terms with some transformative events and new circumstances in my life. These things changed me and my outlook in important ways, some of which I likely don’t fully understand yet. If you look at most of... Continue Reading →
If the remission of pain is happiness, then the emergence from distraction is aesthetic bliss. I use these terms loosely, for I am not making an argument but rather attempting to describe the pleasure that comes from recognition or rediscovery of certain essences permanently associated with human life. These essences are restored to our consciousness... Continue Reading →