Photographer Brian Taylor has a great respect for the West Coast style of photography started by Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.

“I was raised in this tradition,” explains Taylor, who in that sense received a classic education. “This region is still one of the most important nationwide when it comes to photography.”

But every artist sooner or later has to find their own voice. For Taylor, it became alternative photography with its fascinating printing processes, such as the reintroduction of 19th-century techniques. While he employs digital tools, too, it’s never to remove what could be perceived as an error.

“I like the element of chance – a surprise,” he says. “I like the human touch, even at the price of imperfections that to me are beautiful.”

The title of his upcoming exhibit, which opens June 8 in the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, is provocative: The Art of Getting Lost. This is Taylor’s playful invitation to enter, and hopefully get lost for a while, in someone else’s imagination.

Originally from Arizona, Taylor has been living in Carmel Valley for the past eight years after he retired from teaching at San Jose State University. Taylor was also the executive director of CfPA for four years.

“I’m very happy with what I’ve done,” he says about 45 images that comprise the exhibit and come in different shapes and sizes, mixing photography with drawing, painting and his own poetry, that expresses his inner life. “While there’s plenty of justification for social commentary,” he says, diplomatically, “for myself, I choose my own vision, my own imagination.”

To a degree, Taylor perceives himself as a short story writer talking about surreal and poetic moments of daily life, creating adult, almost schizophrenic fairy tales. His works are full of animals – alligators, whales, donkeys – and their powerful spirits, often presented in raw, untouched landscapes that Taylor has adored since his childhood near the magic of the Arizona desert. But the animal that speaks to him the most is a coyote.

“Whenever at twilight I go to Garland Park near my house, I hope to meet a coyote that will stop and talk to me,” he says.

Brian Taylor, The Art of Getting Lost, is viewable at the Center for Photographic Art in Sunset Center, San Carlos Street at 9th, Carmel. Artist talk 3-4pm Saturday, June 8, followed by an opening reception from 4-6pm. On display until July 28. 625-5181, photography.org