On Prisoners and Dilemmas
Guy Tal Photography Journal
by Guy Tal
1M ago
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 life, or to make a virtue of your peculiarities. Those who build walls are their own prisoners. —Ursula K. Le Guin The Prisoner’s Dilemma is a famous thought experiment in the field of game theory. It involves two suspects being interrogated separately, each having to decide wheth ..read more
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Beware the Critic Mindset
Guy Tal Photography Journal
by Guy Tal
2M ago
The article below is a partial excerpt from an article with the same title in the (still mostly unedited) manuscript of my upcoming book, Be Extraordinary: Philosophical Advice for Photographic (and Other) Artists, now available for pre-order. What usually destroys the experience of a photograph is to start criticizing it. —Minor White Critics have always been people less susceptible than other men to the contagion of art. For the most part they are able writers, educated and clever, but with their capacity of being infected by art quite perverted or atrophied. And therefore their writings ha ..read more
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Become an Artist
Guy Tal Photography Journal
by Guy Tal
3M ago
Happy New Year! The paragraphs below are extracted from a short essay titled, “Become an Artist,”  featured in the manuscript of my upcoming book, Be Extraordinary: Philosophical Advice for Photographic (and Other) Artists. If you wish to hear me read more excerpts from the book, discuss some of the philosophies behind it, and/or ask me some philosophical questions, please join me for a virtual presentation and discussion this coming Wednesday, January 3rd. The thing of course, is to make yourself alive. Most people remain all of their lives in a stupor. The point of being an artist is t ..read more
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Upcoming Public Talks
Guy Tal Photography Journal
by Guy Tal
3M ago
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 covered in the book, such as philosophical thinking about art and life, personal expression, authenticity, finding meaning in creative work, and others. I will also read a few passages from the current manuscript and answer audience (philoso ..read more
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Difficult and Worthwhile
Guy Tal Photography Journal
by Guy Tal
4M ago
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 my next book, Be Extraordinary: Philosophical Advice for Photographic (and Other) Artists. For those who are interested, in the coming weeks I will announce an upcoming online presentation touching on these and other themes from the book, followed by a live Q&am ..read more
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Choose Your Influencers Well
Guy Tal Photography Journal
by Guy Tal
5M ago
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 their historical influences and you will likely hear the name Ansel Adams more than any other. In a recent exchange, I asked a photographer who mentioned (only) Adams as his inspiration what he thought about the works of Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston. He respond ..read more
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Ponderosa Elegy
Guy Tal Photography Journal
by Guy Tal
6M ago
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 my previous post, I’d like to clarify that I absolutely intend to continue publishing this blog. In fact, I intend to broaden the range of topics I write about beyond just the narrow scope of photography. Most of my working time these days is dedicated to my next book—Be Extraordinary: Philosop ..read more
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Impure Thoughts
Guy Tal Photography Journal
by Guy Tal
7M ago
Please note: I am taking a (perhaps permanent) break from teaching workshops in 2025. If you would like to join Michael Gordon and me on our Visionary Death Valley workshop, don’t wait. We only have a few seats remaining in 2024. I delight in photographs I delight in words I delight in mixing both To see what happens if they bend My pity for the pure photographer My pity for the pure poet Is tempered by the responsibility I have to three media Whereas they to only one. —Minor White I sat down to write an article. I ended up with a stream of consciousness. I hope some of it is useful, or at l ..read more
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Not That Kind
Guy Tal Photography Journal
by Guy Tal
8M ago
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 is the right career for him. The other, I assume by his manner, was a young adult (I am not sure of his age) seeking to learn more about certain aspects of artistic photography. The best I could do for both was to recommend some useful resources and to encourage them to discover their o ..read more
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A Living Legacy
Guy Tal Photography Journal
by Guy Tal
9M ago
I could have done lots more, put in much more work and developed more pictures, but I had also a desire to say what I felt about life. —Consuelo Kanaga I’ve had several conversations recently about the topic of legacy. In hindsight, I realized, this has been one of the most consistent topics of conversation I’ve had with fellow photographers over the years, especially with those who, after some years of practice, found themselves considering the magnitude of investment of time, money, and effort they put into in their work, and the important part that photography came to play in their own li ..read more
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