Photography is an investigation of both the outer and the inner worlds. The first experiences with the camera involve looking at the world beyond the lens, trusting the instrument will 'capture' something 'seen'. The terms shoot and take are not accidental; they represent an attitude of conquest and appropriation. Only when the photographer grows into perception and creative impulse does the term make define a condition of empathy between the external and the internal events (Ansel Adams)

Ansel Adams in 1930 had been training to become a concert pianist while considering a career as a photographer. He decided, after seeing the photographs by Paul Strand, that "the camera, not the piano, would shape [his] destiny". His mother and aunt both pleaded, "Do not give up the piano! The camera cannot express the human soul!" To which Adams replied: "The camera cannot, but the photographer can”

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Beauty is only skin-deep

Photography succeeds not when the original vision is created photographically, but when the photograph is able to evoke or re-create a similar vision in the mind of each viewer. If the re-creation is not understood or not relevant or not powerful enough, the image fails. But if the special unity of composition found by the photographer triggers strong emotions, the image has a chance of success (Galen Rowell)


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