QuoteProject
I realized all of the possibilities that could exist for me with my camera: all of the images that I could capture, all of the lives I could enter, all of the people I could meet and how much I could learn from them.
Mary Ellen Mark
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote highlights the transformative power of photography and the connections it fosters between the photographer and the world.

Mary Ellen Mark reflects on the endless possibilities that photography offers, acknowledging the unique opportunities it provides to explore diverse lives, meet various people, and gain valuable insights through the lens of a camera. The quote emphasizes how art can serve as a medium for connection and discovery, enriching the photographer's experience and understanding of humanity.

Themes

PhotographyConnectionsLearningExplorationArt

In practice

Example use cases

During a photography exhibition, discussing the impact of capturing human stories.

More from Mary Ellen Mark

I think you have to have a real point of view that's your own. You have to tell it your way. And, I think that it's a mistake to shoot for a specific magazine's point of view because it's never going to be as good. You have to shoot for yourself and photograph [ the way] you believe it.
Mary Ellen MarkRead
As a kid, I used to dream about airplanes before I ever flew in one. I really knew, when I started photographing, I wanted it to be a way of knowing different cultures, not just in other countries but in this country, too, and I knew I wanted to enter other lives. I knew I wanted to be a voyeur.
Mary Ellen MarkRead
I think you reveal yourself by what you choose to photograph, but I prefer photographs that tell more about the subject. There's nothing much interesting to tell about me; what's interesting is the person I'm photographing, and that's what I try to show. [...] I think each photographer has a point of view and a way of looking at the world... that has to do with your subject matter and how you choose to present it. What's interesting is letting people tell you about themselves in the picture.
Mary Ellen MarkRead
I could spend my whole life photographing circuses. They combine everything I'm interested in - they're ironic, poetic, and corny at the same time. There's also something about a circus that's magical, sentimental, and almost tragic, like a Fellini film.
Mary Ellen MarkRead
I want my photographs not only to be real but to portray the essence of my subjects also. In order to do that, you have to be patient.
Mary Ellen MarkRead
I saw that my camera gave me a sense of connection with others that I never had before. It allowed me to enter lives, satisfying a curiosity that was always there but that was never explored before.
Mary Ellen MarkRead

Similar quotes

I have an impulse to write all over the orange walls- I need an alphabet of endings ripped out of books, of hands pulled off of clocks, of cold stones, of shoes filled with nothing but wind.
Jandy NelsonRead
Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place.
BanksyRead
You know how some people write every day at a certain point? I'm not like that. I carry something around for a long time. I weigh the words and the sentences. I weigh the paragraphs. The process is much more meditative for me.
Jamaica KincaidRead
Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.
William WordsworthRead
If architecture had nothing to do with art, it would be astonishingly easy to build houses, but the architect's task - his most difficult task - is always that of selecting.
Arne JacobsenRead
For me, drum elements are like hieroglyphics - I think of a certain physical figure, and a little three-dimensional glyph will appear in my mind as I'm playing.
Neil PeartRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Mary Ellen Mark | QuoteProject