Читать книгу More Than a Rock, 2nd Edition - Guy Tal - Страница 8

On one of my workshops a student asked whether I keep notes of specific settings I’ve used to print a photograph. I don’t. This is because every time I open one of my files, I find something I want to change about it. I aim for my work to be self-expressive. By this I mean that I don’t write or photograph just to create some objectively appealing artifacts. I write and create photographs to reflect the person I am, to express things that are on my mind, and to give tangible form to qualities of my real experiences (at least in my own mind). It stands to reason that as my sensibilities and skills evolve, as my thinking matures, as my knowledge increases, and as I assimilate more of my living experiences, I change and my work changes with me.

Henri Matisse said, “I do not repudiate any of my paintings, but there is not one of them that I would not redo differently, if I had it to redo.” I feel fortunate that, five years after the publication of the first edition of More Than a Rock, I got the opportunity to do exactly that: to redo the book with the benefit of hindsight, with (hopefully) improved skill, and in light of feedback from readers. This feedback, to my surprise, is something I did not expect when the book first came out. In fact, I wasn’t sure then what to expect, or whether my words would resonate with enough readers to justify writing more of these essays. I feel fortunate today to be able to express my gratitude to those who not only read the book but also took the time to share with me some of their impressions and insights, and to do so from the pages of this second edition. I am grateful also to the wonderful team at Rocky Nook for their help with the book, and for being a pleasure to work with.

Although I have made a fair number of edits to essays from the first edition, I did so with the goals of preserving my original thoughts and streamlining the text for readability. I also included four new articles in this edition, which touch on more recent thoughts and experiences.

Guy Tal

Torrey, Utah

July 2020