I think of all the photographic literature I’ve read, Guy Tal stirs up the mind and heart like no one else. A part of me thinks that if a nature photographer ever came up with some kind of creed or mission statement, the following passage below would probably hold up nicely over a lifetime. It resonates with me deeply. And it’s a lofty ambition, not easily or often reached, but worthy of persistent pursuit.
“My work, to the extent that it may be worthy of being considered art, is not meant to offer benign glimpses into things that happen to be beautiful in their own right. If my work is to be understood as intended, it should serve as both inspiration, and as a stern warning about the wager we placed on our ability to reinvent reality-not just in the material sense but also in the sense of jeopardizing the knowledge, inspiration, peace, and reverence we find in natural things, and that if we are proven wrong may never again be possible by artificial means. A generic image of a pretty place will not do. Only the deliberate explorations, revelations, and personal stories we tell in original work stand a chance of piercing the barricades of socialized indifference, built over millennia of decadence, misplaced priorities, greed, and unsustainable practices.” – Guy Tal