What I learned from Lennon was something that did stay with me my whole career, which is to be very straightforward. I actually love talking about taking pictures, and I think that helps everyone.
Interpretation
Annie Leibovitz emphasizes the importance of being straightforward in communication, especially when discussing her passion for photography.
In this quote, Annie Leibovitz reflects on the influence of John Lennon on her career, particularly in the area of communication. She highlights that being direct and open about her love for photography not only enriches her own experience but also engages those around her, making the process more collaborative and enjoyable. This approach fosters a deeper connection with her subject and audience, showcasing the significance of honesty in art.
In practice
In a photography workshop, sharing this quote can inspire participants to be honest and straightforward in their artistic expressions.
Those who want to be serious photographers, you're really going to have to edit your work. You're going to have to understand what you're doing. You're going to have to not just shoot, shoot, shoot. To stop and look at your work is the most important thing you can do.
I was scared to do anything in the studio because it felt so claustrophobic. I wanted to be somewhere where things could happen and the subject wasn't just looking back at you.
I personally made a decision many years ago that I wanted to crawl into portraiture because it had a lot of latitude.
In a portrait, you have room to have a point of view. The image may not be literally what's going on, but it's representative.
The first thing I did with my very first camera was climb Mt. Fuji. Climbing Mt. Fuji is a lesson in determination and moderation. It would be fair to ask if I took the moderation part to heart. But it certainly was a lesson in respecting your camera. If I was going to live with this thing, I was going to have to think about what that meant. There were not going to be any pictures without it.
A lot can be told from what happens in between the main moments.
The dream is not a map. A poem is not the territory. The dreamer reclines in a barbershop carpeted with Afro turf. In the dark some soul yells. It hurts to walk barefoot on cowrie shells.
There was a German philosopher who is very well known, his name was Immanuel Kant, and he said there are two things that don’t have to mean anything, one is music and the other is laughter. Don’t have to mean anything that is, in order to give us deep pleasure.
I think a playwright realizes after he finishes working on the script that this is only the beginning. What will happen when it moves into three dimensions?
Would that we could at once paint with the eyes! In the long way from the eye through the arm to the pencil, how much is lost!
Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous.
My introduction to art history was like everybody else's. You see an art history book that has works by Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Yes, these things are great. But I don't see a reflection of myself in any of these things I'm looking at.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.