Guy Tal | Photographer, Author
This is a reader-supported, ad-free zone. Please consider becoming a patron.
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 This continues Remembering the Future —... Continue Reading →
My thanks to those of you who sent me philosophical questions (see previous post)! Please keep them coming. I'll have some answers for you soon. If you'd like to purchase any of my books, I'll fulfill all new orders in the next couple of days. Please be aware that orders placed after Monday, May 12th... Continue Reading →
If sub specie aeternitatis there is no reason to believe that anything matters, then that does not matter either, and we can approach our absurd lives with irony instead of heroism or despair. — Thomas Nagel Someone asked me if I had a “message of hope” to share. I do not. I think I have... 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 →
Some of you likely noticed I failed to publish my regular monthly post in March. Between concentrated work to finish the manuscript of my upcoming book and certain unforeseen personal challenges, I found myself with a bad case of writer's block. As (dubious?) compensation, I give you today more than twice my usual article word... 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 →
This article brought to you—in full and free of advertising—by the generosity of my Patreon supporters. Please consider becoming one. Away with ideals. Let each individual act spontaneously from the forever incalculable prompting of the creative wellhead within him. There is no universal law. —D.H. Lawrence Working in projects is, without a doubt, a better, more artistic,... Continue Reading →
The fine arts and the hard sciences have more in common than most people believe, because both are driven by dopamine. The poet composing lines about a hopeless lover is not so different from the physicist scribbling formulas about excited electrons. They both require the ability to look beyond the world of the senses into... Continue Reading →
Searching is everything—going beyond what you know. And the test of the search is really in the things themselves, the things you seek to understand. What is important is not what you think about them, but how they enlarge you. —Wynn Bullock Winter invites reflection. For some, such end-of-year reflection is tied with traditions or... Continue Reading →
Whatever you do to satisfy yourself will fulfill those in the world who are like you. What takes form within you will be felt outside of yourself. But if you try to satisfy someone else, you will serve neither that person nor yourself. Thus you will never know any peace. —Alfred Stieglitz Almost every time... Continue Reading →