Guy Tal | Photographer, Author
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Colleen Miniuk and I recently sat with our good friends and hosts of the We Talk Photo podcast, Jack Graham and John Pedersen, for an enjoyable conversation about our recent books, life, and philosophy. I hope you enjoy it. If you have read any of my or Colleen's books, please consider leaving reviews on Amazon.... 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 →
Recently, I've had the pleasure of interviewing with my friend and photographer extraordinaire, Richard Bernabe, for his excellent podcast, Beyond the Lens. Richard and I have known each other a long time, but this was the first time we sat down to record a deep conversation about our approaches to photography. I enjoyed it very... 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 →
It’s always easier not to think for oneself. Find a nice safe hierarchy and settle in. Don’t make changes, don’t risk disapproval, don’t upset your syndics. It’s always easiest to let yourself be governed. There’s a point, around age twenty, when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your... Continue Reading →
Please consider joining me for one or both of these upcoming virtual presentations: January 3rd: Be Extraordinary Kicking off the new year, I will rejoin Nic Stover's Nature Photography Classes Speaker Series to review themes from my upcoming book, Be Extraordinary: Philosophical Advice for Photographic (and Other) Artists. I will explain some of the ideas... Continue Reading →
But perhaps the great work of art has less importance in itself than in the ordeal it demands of a man and the opportunity it provides him of overcoming his phantoms and approaching a little closer to his naked reality. —Albert Camus Note: This article contains passages borrowed from various sections of the manuscript-in-progress for... Continue Reading →
Whether it be a painting or photograph, the picture is a symbol that brings one immediately into close touch with reality. . . . In fact, it is often more effective than the reality would have been, because, in the picture, the non-essential and conflicting interests have been eliminated. —Lewis Hine Ask most photographers about... Continue Reading →
To be happy in this world, especially when youth is past, it is necessary to feel oneself not merely an isolated individual whose day will soon be over, but part of the stream of life flowing on from the first germ to the remote and unknown future. —Bertrand Russell Based on some readers’ responses to... 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 →