The Sasse: Where love stories develop
between art and viewer

home | about | collection | giving | exhibit catalogs | exhibits | media| membership | inspire

Jay Tayag in B&W

I love being out in nature, especially at dawn or dusk, in quiet, serene places where I can be alone and marvel at the beauty around me. This is a fleeting, precious time when the day is either just beginning or ending. The light is soft and subtle. The wind is calm and all is quiet.

This is the feeling I want to express in my photography. My current tool of choice is large format film. This medium records amazing detail and color, but most of all, it requires patience, thoughtfulness, and skill. It's been said that "It's not the camera that takes the picture, but rather the photographer." Nowhere is this more true than in large format film photography.

Photography has given me new eyes. It taught me how to see differently—artistically. Like the movie The Matrix, once I took the red pill, everything looked different, and there was no going back. It took me to places I would never have gone without a camera and made me learn more about the areas I visit year after year. When you appreciate something, you want to protect it. So I practice a leave-no-trace principle and try to leave places better than I found them.

Large format teaches patience and perseverance. It's a slow process that doesn't do well if you hurry it. The slow pace gives me more time to enjoy the scene I'm photographing. When mistakes inevitably happen, I get angry—I might even cry—but eventually, it encourages me to come back and try again.

I've found a small but great community of large format photographers. I've had the pleasure of meeting some of them and consider them friends. They are all passionate about their craft and great people.