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 the way to educate your eye and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of keen observation and active engagement with the world around us as a means of learning.
Walker Evans highlights that true education involves much more than traditional learning; it requires an active participation in observing and understanding our surroundings. By advising us to 'stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop,' he encourages a curiosity and attentiveness that sharpens our perception and enriches our experiences, suggesting that the world is a valuable teacher if we are willing to pay attention.
Themes
EducationObservationLearningCuriosityEngagement
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about photography, this quote can illustrate the importance of observation in art.
More from Walker Evans
All quotes βThatβs 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
Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.
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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.
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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.
Walker EvansRead
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