I want to photograph the considerable ceremonies of our present. I want to gather them, like somebody's grandmother putting up preserves, because they will have been so beautiful.
Diane ArbusRead
It's always seemed to me that photography tends to deal with facts whereas film tends to deal with fiction.
Interpretation
Photography captures reality, while film explores imagination and storytelling.
Diane Arbus distinguishes the mediums of photography and film by suggesting that photography is rooted in factual representation of the world, presenting what is directly observable, whereas film often engages with fictional narratives, allowing for creative expression and storytelling that transcends reality. This highlights the different ways these art forms communicate and evoke emotions.
In practice
In a discussion about the differences between visual art forms, this quote can illustrate the unique qualities of photography and film.
I want to photograph the considerable ceremonies of our present. I want to gather them, like somebody's grandmother putting up preserves, because they will have been so beautiful.
I tend to think of the act of photographing, generally speaking, as an adventure. My favorite thing is to go where Iβve never been.
... I must begin at whatever pace is possible, to work on the book of my own that i vaguely keep assuming lies at the end of the rainbow. It is after all my rainbow and if I don't do it no one else will...Survival is the secret so you really can't afford to doubt yourself for long because you are all you've got. The only thing to do is to go the limit with it. Exceed.
Freaks was a thing I photographed a lot. It was one of the first things I photographed, and it had a terrific kind of excitement for me. I just used to adore them. I still do adore some of them.
I work from awkwardness. By that I mean I don't like to arrange things. If I stand in front of something, instead of arranging it, I arrange myself.
If I were just curious, it would be very hard to say to someone, I want to come to your house and have you talk to me and tell me the story of your life. I mean people are going to say, You're crazy. Plus they're going to keep mighty guarded. But the camera is a kind of license. A lot of people, they want to be paid that much attention and that's a reasonable kind of attention to be paid.
The most powerful words in English are 'Tell me a story,' words that are intimately related to the complexity of history, the origins of language, the continuity of the species, the taproot of our humanity, our singularity, and art itself.
When creative people do their best work, they're hardly ever in charge, they're just sort of rolling along with their eyes shut yelling wheee.
Making art is complicated because the categories are always changing. You just have to make your own art, and whatever categories it falls into will come later.
If you give an answer to your viewer, your film will simply finish in the movie theatre. But when you pose questions, your film actually begins after people watch it. In fact, your film will continue inside the viewer.
I am sure that as a woman I can do a very good skyscraper.
You should create a work that is so valuable it might eventually sell at a high price, but you've got to concentrate on how you create that artwork.
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