It's easy to photograph light reflecting from a surface, the truly hard part is capturing the light in the air.
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote explores how our imaginations create both fantasy and myth, influencing our perception of reality and our quest for identity.
Walker Evans highlights the interplay between our fantasies and realities, suggesting that while we may find comfort and inspiration in our imagined worlds, they can also lead to dissatisfaction with our actual lives. The essence of the quote lies in understanding that these fabricated realms not only shape our dreams and thoughts, but also spark our pursuit of self-discovery, making us aware of the disconnect between our idealized visions and the realities we face.
Themes
ImaginationFantasyMythSelf-DiscoveryRealityDiscontent
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about the power of imagination.
More from Walker Evans
All quotes →That’s my idea of what a portrait ought to be, anonymous and documentary and a straightforward picture of mankind.
Walker EvansRead
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
Similar quotes
Civilization is a work of peaceful co-operation.
Ludwig Von MisesRead
With a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and with a fraud I try to be a fraud and a half.
Otto Von BismarckRead
The more dignity is widely and freely available in a society, the less people want to be famous.
Alain De BottonRead
What makes the meaning of life is people, so you try to be good to people immediately around you and in your broader community. So a lot of my projects are about how I can affect the world in the hundreds of millions.
Reid HoffmanRead
What must strike any intelligent witch or wizard on studying the so-called history of the Elder Wand is that every man who claims to have owned it has insisted that it is "unbeatable," when the known facts of its passage through many owners' hands demonstrate that has it not only been beaten hundreds of times, but that it also attracts trouble as Grumble the Grubby Goat attracted flies.
J. K. RowlingRead
Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.
Thomas PaineRead