The more I photograph women, the less it is about transformation. Women are beautiful. All that really matters is enhancing that.
It's a choice - there are two different sorts of photographer: those obsessed with the technicalities and those obsessed by the subject.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that photographers can be divided into two types based on their focus: the technical aspects of photography or the subjects they capture.
Mario Testino's quote highlights the fundamental choice photographers make in their craft; they can either prioritize the intricate technical details of photography, such as lighting and equipment, or they can immerse themselves in the emotional and narrative qualities of their subjects. This distinction reflects broader perspectives in art, where the artist's intent and focus greatly influence their creations and the connection they establish with their audience.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a photography workshop to highlight different approaches to the craft.
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From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity.
I don't care who likes it or buys it. Because if you use that criterion, Mozart would never have written Don Giovanni, Charlie Parker would have never played anything but swing music.
A writer should not run around with a mirror for his countrymen; he should tell his society and his times things no one ever thought before.
I have spent a good many years since―too many, I think―being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction or poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent. If you write (or paint or dance or sculpt or sing, I suppose), someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that's all.
When the writer (or the artist in general) says he has worked without giving any thought to the rules of the process, he simply means he was working without realizing he knew the rules.
Creativity, which is the expression of our originality, helps us stay mindful that what we bring to the world is completely original and cannot be compared.