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 important to take bad pictures. It's the bad ones that have to do with what you've never done before. They can make you recognize something you hadn't seen in a way that will make you recognize it when you see it again.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Taking imperfect photos is essential for growth and recognition in art.
Diane Arbus suggests that capturing bad pictures is an important part of the creative process, as they can reveal new perspectives and insights that we may not have previously considered. By experiencing and analyzing our mistakes, we learn to recognize beauty and meaning in our subjects more thoroughly, enhancing our overall artistic vision.
Themes
ArtPhotographyLearningRecognitionCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
A photography workshop focused on the importance of embracing failures.
More from Diane Arbus
All quotes →I tend to think of the act of photographing, generally speaking, as an adventure. My favorite thing is to go where I’ve 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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