Anything is an art if you do it at the level of an art.
Interpretation
Art is defined by the level of skill and intention behind an action.
This quote by Richard Avedon suggests that the essence of art lies not solely in traditional forms or mediums, but rather in the dedication and skill applied to any activity. When one approaches a task with the intent and care that characterizes artistic expression, that task transcends its ordinary nature and becomes art, highlighting the subjective and personal nature of creative endeavors.
In practice
In a motivational speech about creativity in the workplace.
There's always been a separation between fashion and what I call my 'deeper' work. Fashion is where I make my living. I'm not knocking it. It's a pleasure to make a living that way. It's pleasure and then there's the deeper pleasure of doing my portraits. It's not important what I consider myself to be, but I consider myself to be a portrait photographer.
I am, and forever will be, devastated by the gift of Audrey Hepburn before my camera. I cannot lift her to greater heights. She is already there. I can only record. I cannot interpret her. There is no going further than who she is. She has achieved in herself her ultimate portrait.
I never wanted to be called an artist. I wanted to be called a photographer.
Photography has always reminded me of the second child.. trying to prove itself. The fact that it wasn't really considered an art.. that it was considered a craft.. has trapped almost every serious photographer.
My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.
When you pose for a photograph, it's behind a smile that isn't yours. You are angry and hungry and alive. What I value in you is that intensity. I want to make portraits as intense as people.
I started, actually, to make my first animated cartoon in 1920. Of course, they were very crude things then and I used sort of little puppet things.
Fashions fade, style is eternal.
I always feel that whatever isn't necessary shouldn't be in a poem.
Choreography is writing on your feet.
Not-writing is a good deal worse than writing.
We're a very expensive group; we break a lot of rules. It's unheard of to combine opera with a rock theme, my dear .
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