I can’t 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
I try to take what voice I have and I give it to those who don’t have one at all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of using one's own influence to advocate for those who are marginalized or voiceless.
W. Eugene Smith's quote speaks to the moral responsibility of individuals to leverage their own voice and platform to support and uplift those who are not heard in society. It highlights the idea that having a voice comes with the duty to speak out for others, particularly for those who face oppression or are unable to express their own needs and rights.
Themes
VoiceAdvocacySupportInjusticeResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice, one could say, 'As W. Eugene Smith once said, I try to take what voice I have and I give it to those who don’t have one at all.'
More from W. Eugene Smith
All quotes →I've never made any picture, good or bad, without paying for it in emotional turmoil.
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.
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
The photographer must bear the responsibility for his work and its effect …[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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