A life lived with the Art Spirit nurtures an integration of the interior and exterior worlds, forming ephemeral portals into the mysterious realm of imagination. The Art life cultivates the intention of playful discovery, spiritual growth, and connection, while not merely allowing questions but encouraging them. Searching for answers to seemingly idiosyncratic questions reveals that human beings collectively share such similar fears, sorrows, hopes and joys. This search for understanding reaches its zenith with the creation of artifacts during those fleeting moments that creative insight is encountered. On this path, the journey truly becomes the destination with each finished Artwork revealing a trace of something more, becoming a personal “offering” that stands as a signpost amidst life’s ever thickening fog.
I believe photography to be uniquely equipped among the arts as no other medium shares such a beautiful duality between the inner and the outer. The requirement of direct engagement with, and exploration of the physical world forces the Artist to confront reality every time that the Art form is practiced. The job of the Photographic Artist is to run reconnaissance missions into the objective outer world with the hope of discovering subject matter that resonants with a subjective inner valence. Through these encounters, connections crystallize between things SEEN and things FELT as personal meaning is deciphered and distilled from out of the chaos of this ostensibly impersonal world.
Jare Israel is a photographic Artist and Poet who believes that photography should be approached as a mindfulness practice, utilizing the camera as a tool to cultivate self discovery and spiritual growth. Photography entered into his life at the age of eighteen followed closely by a serious accident that resulted in a significant and longterm vision deficit in his right eye. Slowly learning to use this handicap to his benefit, he states “I close my left eye when composing, doing this strips the scene of all detail to reveal the raw form beneath the surface”. He goes on to say “Specific subject matter is of little importance to me, whether it be the intricate grain of a twisted old tree high in the mountains, a rust encrustation on an iron beam in the heart of the city or even discarded trash, form is the conveyor of the message and the harbinger of insight”. When not out in the field making photographs he enjoys reading books on philosophy, religion and creativity, writing poetry, and spending time with his girlfriend Kristin and three dogs Captain, Belly Bear and Jasper.
