I canβt stand these damn shows on museum walls with neat little frames, where you look at the images as if they were pieces of art. I want them to be pieces of life!
W. Eugene SmithRead
Most photographers seem to operate with a pane of glass between themselves and their subjects. They just can't get inside and know the subject.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Photographers often create a barrier between themselves and their subjects, hindering genuine connection.
W. Eugene Smith's quote highlights the challenge photographers face in truly understanding and connecting with their subjects. It suggests that many photographers may rely too heavily on technical aspects and remain emotionally distant, which prevents them from capturing the essence of who their subjects really are.
Themes
PhotographyConnectionSubjectUnderstandingArt
In practice
Example use cases
In a presentation about the art of photography, this quote can emphasize the importance of emotional connection.
More from W. Eugene Smith
All quotes βI've never made any picture, good or bad, without paying for it in emotional turmoil.
W. Eugene SmithRead
Up to and including the moment of exposure, the photographer is working in an undeniably subjective way. By his choice of technical approach, by the selection of the subject matterand by his decision as to the exact cinematic instant of exposure, he is blending the variables of interpretation into an emotional whole.
W. Eugene SmithRead
I try to take what voice I have and I give it to those who donβt have one at all.
W. Eugene SmithRead
The photographer must bear the responsibility for his work and its effect β¦[for] photographic journalism, because of its tremendous audience reached by publications using it, has more influence on public thinking than any other branch of photography.
W. Eugene SmithRead
Many claim I am a photographer of tragedy. In the greater sense I am not, for though I often photograph where the tragic emotion is present, the result is almost invariably affirmative.
W. Eugene SmithRead
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There's an idea that it's hard to be a woman artist. People assume that women have fewer opportunities, less power. But it's not any harder to be a woman artist than to be a male artist. We all take what we are given and use the parts of ourselves that feed the work. We make our way. Photographers, men and women, are particularly lucky. Photography lets you find yourself. It is a passport to people and places and to possibilities.
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The essential thing is to spring forth, to express the bolt of lightning one senses upon contact with a thing. The function of the artist is not to translate an observation but to express the shock of the object on his nature; the shock, with the original reaction.
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