There is always a subjective aspect in landscape art, something in the picture that tells us as much about who is behind the camera as about what is in front of it.
Robert AdamsRead
Part of the reason that these attempts at explanation fail, I think, is that photographers, like all artists, choose their medium because it allows them the most fully truthful expression of their vision... as Robert Frost told a person who asked him what one of his poems meant, 'You want me to say it worse?'
Interpretation
What this quote means
Artists express their vision through their chosen medium, and sometimes words fail to capture that essence.
The quote reflects on the challenges of explaining artistic expressions, particularly in photography. Robert Adams suggests that like all artists, photographers select their medium for its capacity to convey their true vision, emphasizing that attempting to articulate that vision in words may dilute its impact, as illustrated by Robert Frost's dismissive response to inquiries about the meaning of his poetry.
Themes
ArtPhotographyExpressionVisionCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is perfect for a discussion about the nature of art in a gallery opening.
More from Robert Adams
All quotes →If I like many photographers, and I do, I account for this by noting a quality they share - animation. They may or may not make a living by photography, but they are alive by it.
Robert AdamsRead
When photographers get beyond copying the achievements of others, or just repeating their own accidental first successes, they learn that they do not know where in the world they will find pictures. Nobody does. Each photograph that works is a revelation to its supposed creator.
Robert AdamsRead
We have names for everything. What if we forgot about those names? And we stopped seeing things as something? What if we just observed things, watched things, without giving them a name, without coming to a conclusion? What do you think would happen? You would transcend everything.
Robert AdamsRead
The only things that distinguish the photographer from everybody else are his pictures: they alone are the basis for our special interest in him. If pictures cannot be understood without knowing details of the artist's private life, then that is a reason for faulting them; major art, by definition, can stand independent of its maker.
Robert AdamsRead
Why do most great pictures look uncontrived? Why do photographers bother with the deception, especially since it so often requires the hardest work of all? The answer is, I think, that the deception is necessary if the goal of art is to be reached: only pictures that look as if they had been easily made can convincingly suggest that beauty is commonplace.
Robert AdamsRead
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