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
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.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the idea that photographs capture tragedy, but they also convey hope and positivity.
W. Eugene Smith expresses that while his work often captures scenes of tragedy, his intention is not to dwell on despair. Instead, he emphasizes the affirmative aspects that can arise from these moments, revealing depth and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.
In practice
This quote can inspire discussions on the role of art in expressing human emotion at a gallery opening.
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!
I've never made any picture, good or bad, without paying for it in emotional turmoil.
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.
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.
I try to take what voice I have and I give it to those who don’t have one at all.
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.
I have a complex feeling about genre. I love it, but I hate it at the same time. I have the urge to make audiences thrill with the excitement of a genre, but I also try to betray and destroy the expectations placed on that genre.
A classic is the term given to any book which comes to represent the whole universe, a book on a par with ancient talismans.
For me, I try as much as possible to just think about being in the movie theatre, having the lights dim, and what would I want to see on the screen. That puts me in the frame of mind that made me want to be in the movie business to begin with.
Drawing is a way of coming upon the connection between things, just like metaphor in poetry reconnects what has become separated.
When I paint a person, his enemies always find the portrait a good likeness.
I adore art...when I am alone with my notes, my heart pounds and the tears stream from my eyes, and my emotion and my joys are too much to bear.
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