Jim TalaricIn more than 50 years of snapping the shutter, I have considered this constant artistic urge much more than a hobby. I have been told that I am too singularly focused on photography, that I should “practice moderation” in my life. Seems logical but I can’t seem to rein in my passion. From the first time I held a Brownie Hawkeye camera in my hand, a camera has been the conduit through which I have engaged the wonders of the world.

After high school I entered the US Air Force, lived in Athens, Greece and spent the mid-60’s travelling throughout Greece, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. It was during this period that I swapped the Brownie for the latest in camera technology, a state-of-the-art Pentax Spotmatic with a light meter. Finally I had more control over the images I sought to capture, and the camera was my constant companion as I wandered through ancient ruins and whitewashed villages, past mud brick huts in the Karakorum Mountains, among fishermen hauling in the day’s catch and women in the fields carrying hay on their heads. Through the lens, I recorded the discoveries that fuel my love of travel and exploration still today.

In those days, “Christmas” came to me frequently: After mailing my slide film back to the U.S. for processing, I would eagerly await the arrival of the small yellow boxes from Kodak that returned to my mailbox in Athens several times a month. Throughout the next many years I continued taking photographs as an avocation while founding a company focused on designing and manufacturing mannequins. Twenty-five years later I sold the company and launched Jim Talaric Photography. My passion is now at the forefront in my life.

While the delights of image-making remain unchanged, I no longer have to defer gratification: in the digital age of photography, “Christmas” appears almost instantly on my computer monitor. And while I no longer use a dark room, manipulating those images is just as rewarding as I seek to create a piece of art as compelling as the scene that exists in my memory. For me, the entire creative process is gratifying I am as enthusiastic about preparing, matting and framing photographs as I am about taking them -- and of course, about sharing them.

Thanks for looking,