George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)
[Writer, b. 1903, Motihari, Bengal, India, d. 1950, London.]
In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning.
Richard Hennessy
[Artist and critic, b. 1941, lives in New York.]
Photography bears the same relationship to fine art that figure skating does to ballet.
(1979)
Beaumont Newhall
[Photographer, writer, and historian, b. 1908, Lynn, Massachusetts, d. 1993, Santa Fe, New Mexico.]
It has been important to me, as an historian of photography, to understand photography by photographing.
Frederick Sommer
[Photographer, b. 1905, Angri, Italy, d. 1999, Prescott, Arizona.]
There is nothing to see, nothing featured; what’s the matter with you? (Sommer’s summary of how others view his landscape photographs)
Cindy Sherman
[Artist, b. 1954, Glen Ridge, New Jersey, lives in New York.]
I would read theoretical stuff about my work and think, “What? Where did they get that?” The work was so intuitive for me, I didn’t know where it was coming from. So I thought I had better not say anything or I’d blow it.
John Szarkowski
[Curator, critic, historian, and photographer, b. 1925, Ashland, Wisconsin, d. 2007, Pittsfield, Massachusetts.]
[Writers on photography have] difficulty in accepting the fact that luck is a great and powerful force in photography; we tend to be interested only in intention, because it makes the enterprise feel more important.
Idris Khan
[Artist, b. 1978, Birmingham, England, lives in London.]
...don’t be put off by someone telling you that your image looks too digital; maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to look.
Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi)
[Political leader and thinker, b. 1869, Porbandar, Gujarat, India, d. 1948, New Delhi, India.]
I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.