Gerhard Richter
[Artist, b. 1932, Dresden, lives in Düsseldorf.]

 The photograph is the only picture that can truly convey information, even if it is technically faulty and the object can barely be identified. A painting of a murder is of no interest whatever; but a photograph of a murder fascinates everyone. 
 To make a photograph is already the first artificial act. 
 Throwaway snapshots come closest to achieving the state of pure picture. 
 All photographs are far more important than any painting. 
 Every time we describe an event, add up a column of figures, or take a photograph of a tree, we create a model; without models we would know nothing about reality and would be like animals. 
 What counts isn’t being able to do a thing, it’s seeing what it is. Seeing is the decisive act, and ultimately it places the maker and the viewer on the same level. 
 I do not mistrust reality, of which I know next to nothing, but I am suspicious regarding the image of reality which our senses convey to us, and which is incomplete and limited. Our eyes have developed such as to survive. It is merely coincidence that we can see stars with them, as well. 
 The photograph is the most perfect picture. It does not change; it is absolute, and therefore autonomous, unconditional, devoid of style. 
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