Comments on: Originality and Soul

By: Dan Baumbach

Dan Baumbach — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:31:13 +0000

I’m not sure I agree with you. Most times I go to Yosemite, I still try to make it up to tunnel view and it still brings tears to my eyes.

I’m still thrilled the first time I drive into Bridleveil Meadow and see El Cap off to the left.

Maybe other places are different, but Yosemite has so much soul, it will take a lot more to deplete it for me.

By: Michael Reynolds

Michael Reynolds — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:43:09 +0000

Hi Guy,
Couldn’t help but comment here. We all share a common tie to the landscape, much as Michael Gordon suggests. I totally agree that it is the experience of visiting the wilderness, where every you may find it, that is the true reward. The fact that we are able to create images while we are there is just a further blessing. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
Best Regards,
Michael R. Reynolds

By: John

John — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 03:43:00 +0000

Hi Guy,

I’ve been a long time lurker and admirer of your work, and thought I’d add a comment here as your post struck a chord with me… once again!

I’ve had similar conversations with some friends about photographing the ‘icons’ and other familiar places, and it goes back and forth about how its all ‘been done before’, etc, and also about how the impact is lessened from seeing so many images of these places beforehand. My two cents is that I’ve never felt the experience was diminished, but always thought it was similar to playing an instrument… one can hear a Bach Invention over and over, but actually playing (and experiencing) it yourself adds to the soul, and brings full circle what you may have heard before, or as with photography what had been seen beforehand in other images and work.

I like compiling quotes, mostly about nature, and your post made me remember one by Van Gogh that I just went back and reread… ‘It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to… The feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures.”

Again, just my two cents… I hope you and an all others possibly reading this have a great Thanksgiving.

John

By: Guy Tal

Guy Tal — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:15:13 +0000

Thanks guys!

Michael: My sentiments exactly. I couldn’t have said it better.

John: I can honestly say that the more familiar I become with these places, the more I enjoy them. The contempt part may hold true for people (a la Sartre) but I never tire of the wild.

Guy

By: John

John — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:08:58 +0000

Good observations, as usual, Guy, and ‘diminished soul’ is a far more poetic rendition of a well-established fact: ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ (http://tinyurl.com/6p2axt). The remedy -as you suggest- is to compensate by allowing oneself to react emotionally to the scene. Easier said than done, I know, but it can be learned.

By: Michael E. Gordon

Michael E. Gordon — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:20:53 +0000

Well written, Guy.

I see the icons of the American West as communal landscapes. They are collectively ours as Americans. We all have access to them, and we all likely share similar feelings and thoughts while gazing into the Valley from Inspiration Point. On the contrary, the intimate vignettes and little-known places carry powerful personal meaning and significance.

I’m as awed by Inspiration Point and Delicate Arch as anyone else, but my most intense and personal moments with nature almost always occur in little-known places and almost always by myself. I am beckoned to photograph by the experience – not the view.