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
There's a kind of power thing about the camera. I mean everyone knows you've got some edge. You're carrying some magic which does something to them. It fixes them in a way.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The camera holds a unique power to capture and define the essence of people, influencing perceptions and interactions.
Diane Arbus emphasizes the transformative power of the camera in her quote. It suggests that possessing a camera grants the photographer an edge or advantage, as it allows them to capture a moment in a way that reveals deeper truths about their subjects. This act of photographing can create a sense of magic, as it freezes the subjects in a way that might not occur in everyday life, altering both how they are seen and how they see themselves.
Themes
PhotographyPowerCameraPerceptionMagic
In practice
Example use cases
In a photography workshop, you might say, 'As Diane Arbus said, there's a kind of power thing about the camera.'
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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