I want to photograph the considerable ceremonies of our present. I want to gather them, like somebody's grandmother putting up preserves, because they will have been so beautiful.
Diane ArbusRead
It's always seemed to me that photography tends to deal with facts whereas film tends to deal with fiction.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Photography captures reality, while film explores imagination and storytelling.
Diane Arbus distinguishes the mediums of photography and film by suggesting that photography is rooted in factual representation of the world, presenting what is directly observable, whereas film often engages with fictional narratives, allowing for creative expression and storytelling that transcends reality. This highlights the different ways these art forms communicate and evoke emotions.
Themes
PhotographyFilmFactsFictionArtMedium
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the differences between visual art forms, this quote can illustrate the unique qualities of photography and film.
More from Diane Arbus
All quotes βI tend to think of the act of photographing, generally speaking, as an adventure. My favorite thing is to go where Iβve never been.
Diane ArbusRead
... I must begin at whatever pace is possible, to work on the book of my own that i vaguely keep assuming lies at the end of the rainbow. It is after all my rainbow and if I don't do it no one else will...Survival is the secret so you really can't afford to doubt yourself for long because you are all you've got. The only thing to do is to go the limit with it. Exceed.
Diane ArbusRead
Freaks was a thing I photographed a lot. It was one of the first things I photographed, and it had a terrific kind of excitement for me. I just used to adore them. I still do adore some of them.
Diane ArbusRead
I work from awkwardness. By that I mean I don't like to arrange things. If I stand in front of something, instead of arranging it, I arrange myself.
Diane ArbusRead
If I were just curious, it would be very hard to say to someone, I want to come to your house and have you talk to me and tell me the story of your life. I mean people are going to say, You're crazy. Plus they're going to keep mighty guarded. But the camera is a kind of license. A lot of people, they want to be paid that much attention and that's a reasonable kind of attention to be paid.
Diane ArbusRead
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There is nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described. I photograph to see what something will look like photographed.
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It was an unwritten law that black comics were not permitted to work white nightclubs. You could sing and you could dance, but you couldn't stand flat-footed and talk; that was a no-no.
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