Robert Rauschenberg
[Artist, b. 1925, Port Arthur, Texas, d. 2008, Captiva Island, Florida.]
I don’t want a picture to look like something it isn’t. I want it to look like something it is.
Frank Gohlke
[Photographer, b. 1942, Wichita Falls, Texas, lives in Southborough, Massachusetts.]
When a photographer chooses a subject, he or she is making a claim on the interest and attention of future viewers, a prediction about what will be thought to have been important.
Allan Sekula
[Photographer, writer, and theorist, b. 1951, Erie, Pennsylvania, d. 2013, Los Angeles.]
Is it possible to discuss photography as a medium separate from the thing being photographed?
Ken Domon
[Photographer, b. 1909, Sakata, Japan, d. 1990, Tokyo.]
We should pay attention to the screaming voice of the subject and simply operate the camera exactly according to its indications. When the camera is operated according to these indications, the direct connection between the camera and the subject appears before us.
Harold Feinstein
[Photographer, b. 1931, Brooklyn, New York, lives in New York.]
On one hand you want to see your subject well. On the other hand, you want to be caught off guard to retain the spontaneity. If you know your subject too well you stop seeing it.
Thomas Demand
[Photographer, b. 1964, Munich, Germany, lives in Los Angeles.]
I think that nowadays there are more images in the world than world to be in the pictures.
Ray Metzker
[Photographer, b. 1931, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, d. 2014, Philadelphia.]
I don’t need exotic places to be stimulated. Out of familiarity comes nuance. The more you revisit a subject the more you’re like to discover.
Paul Strand
[Photographer, b. 1890, New York, d. 1976, Oregeval, France.]
Subject matter is extremely important to the artist, because until he talks about something that really means something to him, the audience cannot see anything important or interesting.
