It's easy to photograph light reflecting from a surface, the truly hard part is capturing the light in the air.
Walker EvansRead
That’s my idea of what a portrait ought to be, anonymous and documentary and a straightforward picture of mankind.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A portrait should candidly capture the essence of humanity without embellishment or personal identification.
Walker Evans emphasizes the importance of authenticity in portraiture, suggesting that a true portrait should not focus on the specific identity of the subject but rather reflect a documentary-style representation of the human experience. This idea highlights the role of art in showcasing the universality of human emotions and experiences over individualism.
Themes
PortraitArtHumanityDocumentaryAuthenticity
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the role of art in society, this quote can underscore the significance of portraying collective human experiences.
More from Walker Evans
All quotes →The meaning of quality in photography's best pictures lies written in the language of vision. That language is learned by chance, not system.
Walker EvansRead
It is the way to educate your eye and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop.
Walker EvansRead
Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.
Walker EvansRead
Whether he is an artist or not, the photographer is a joyous sensualist, for the simple reason that the eye traffics in feelings, not in thoughts.
Walker EvansRead
It is easy to imagine fantasy as physical and myth as real. We do it almost every moment. We do this as we dream, as we think, and as we cope with the world about us. But these worlds of fantasy that we form into the solid things around us are the source of our discontent. They inspire our search to find ourselves.
Walker EvansRead
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The job of the writer is to take a close and uncomfortable look at the world they inhabit, the world we all inhabit, and the job of the novel is to make the corpse stink.
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