Guy Tal | Photographer, Author
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Art is too complex and diverse to be explicable in terms of a single category such as the aesthetic. ‘Artistic value’ is constituted by a set of different kinds of value. The modes of appreciating art, the means to understanding art, the kinds of objects that are artworks are also all plural. —Robert Stecker There... Continue Reading →
Announcements: After prematurely announcing its final date a few years ago, the Moab Photography Symposium will be back in September, 2025! I will join several of my talented photo colleagues and have the privilege of delivering the closing presentation. Seating is limited, so be sure to reserve your places in both the main event and... Continue Reading →
How can you expect a beholder to experience my picture as I experienced it? A picture comes to me a long time beforehand; who knows how long a time beforehand, I sensed, saw, and painted it and yet the next day even I do not understand what I have done. How can anyone penetrate my... Continue Reading →
Say yes to everything, shirk nothing, don’t try to lie to yourself. You are not a solid citizen, you are not a Greek, you are not harmonious, or the master of yourself, you are a bird in the storm. Let it storm! —Hermann Hesse The day’s light is fading. The silence is palpable. So are... Continue Reading →
My new book, Be Extraordinary: Philosophical Advice for Photographic and Other Artists is now available for purchase and immediate download. (Note that you may also purchase the book from ebook sellers, such as Amazon, Google, or Apple Books. However, if you purchase the ebook directly from my website, you will receive both an EPUB version... Continue Reading →
Those who feel guilty contemplating “betraying” the tradition they love by acknowledging their disapproval of elements within it should reflect on the fact that the very tradition to which they are so loyal . . . is in fact the evolved product of many adjustments firmly but delicately made by earlier lovers of the same... Continue Reading →
Note: My upcoming book, Be Extraordinary, is now available to pre-order! Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language. —Aldo Leopold Art and nature have this in common: they affect some people more profoundly... Continue Reading →
The idea of an art detached from its creator is not only outmoded; it is false. —Albert Camus In recent weeks, I was asked by two different people for advice on how to become a professional landscape photographer. One was an ambitious and precocious young teenager who, at age 13, had already decided that this... Continue Reading →
This is an edited version of an article originally published in LensWork Magazine. I've had the great privilege of contributing to LensWork regularly for nearly a decade. I consider it the finest print magazine available today for creative photographers. I hope you consider subscribing. The state of mind of the photographer while creating is a... Continue Reading →
A casual phone call earlier this week became an on-the-spot decision to record a podcast episode with friends Jack Graham and John Pedersen. Tune in to hear my thoughts about the book I'm currently working on and a few other philosophical tidbits. I hope you enjoy it! Watch on YouTube, or listen to the audio... Continue Reading →