Human Nature 17 - Limited Edition 1 of 25 Photograph

Paul Taylor was born in San Francisco in 1955, and now lives and works in Los Angeles. He took up photography in a serious way in his early teens, shooting abstracts inspired by Minor White and Aaron Siskind, and the decision to make it his profession prompted his move to Los Angeles in 1980. He started his own business shooting commercially shortly thereafter, always trying to bring a creative sensibility to his projects. In the last few years, he has been exploring the impractical side of photography - where instead of trying to convey the benefits of products, he is trying to communicate something ineffable. Images have too long been used as promotion or propaganda – trying to elicit a certain response in the viewer. In an attempt to counter this trend, he is increasingly gravitating to the abstract - the root of his love for the medium. Abstracts lack the signifiers integral to message making, and instead disorient the viewer. This detachment from the physical world bears a resemblance to meditation, and shares the goal of spiritual enlightenment. Photography gives power to the abstract because we know it originates in the world of light.