I hate good taste. It's the worst thing that can happen to a creative person.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that conforming to what is considered good taste can stifle creativity.
Helmut Newton expresses a provocative viewpoint that adhering to conventional standards of good taste can hinder the originality and inventiveness of a creative individual. He implies that the freedom to explore unconventional ideas and aesthetics is essential for true artistic expression and innovation, and that a rigid adherence to taste can negatively impact creativity.
In practice
This quote can be used in an art class to encourage students to think outside the box.
I have always avoided photographing in the studio. A woman does not spend her life sitting or standing in front of a seamless white paper background. Although it makes my life more complicated, I prefer to take my camera out into the street... and places that are out of bounds for photographers have always had a special attraction for me.
I like photographing women who appear to know something of life. I recently did a session with a great beauty, a movie star in in her thirties. I photographed her twice within three weeks and the second time I said: "You're much more beautiful today than you were three weeks ago." And she replied: "But I'm also three weeks older.
They often ask me to shoot for them. But I say no. I think an old guy like me ought not take pages away from young photographers who need the exposure.
I am very attracted by bad taste-it is a lot more exciting than that supposed good taste which is nothing more than a standardized way of looking at things.
The point of my photography has always been to challenge myself, to go a little further than my Germanic discipline and Teutonic nature would traditionally permit me to.
The score is not a bible, and I am never afraid to dare. The music is behind those dots.
The gods are fugitive guests of literature.
And I taught acting for years, and without knowing it that was the real thing that started bending me toward directing.
In my opinion, theater shouldn't give advice to citizens.
Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.
There are some experiences in life which should not be demanded twice from any man, and one of them is listening to the Brahms Requiem.
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