ON PHOTOGRAPHY
To see life; to see the world.; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gesture of the proud; to see strange things -machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the Moon; to see man's work - his paintings, towers and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to; the women that men love and many children; to see and take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed.
Henry Luce, Life - 1936
Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes - just sometimes - one photograph or a group of them can lure our senses into awareness. Much depends upon the viewer; in some, photography summon enough emotion to be a catalyst to thought. Someone - or perhaps many - among us may be influenced to heed reason, to find a way to right that which is wrong, and may even be inspired to the dedication needed to search for the cure to an illness. The rest of us may perhaps feel a greater sense of understanding and compassion for those whose lives are alien to our own. Photography is a small voice. It is an important voice in my life, but not the only one. I believe in it. If it is well-conceived, it sometimes works."
W. Eugene Smith
Minamata, 1975
Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face - the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited; and the wealth and confusion that man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.
Edward Steichen
"La photographie est le seul "langage" qui soit compris dans toutes les parties du monde et, rassemblant les nations et les cultures, elle unit la famille humaine. Indépendante par rapport aux influences politiques, là où les gens sont libres, elle reflète fidèlement la vie et les événements, nous permets de partager les espoirs et le désespoir des autres, et éclaire les conditions de la vie politique et sociale. Nous devenons les témoins de l'humanité et de l'inhumanité de la race humaine."
Helmut Gernsheim
Creative Photography, 1962
In photography, if I am able to evoke not only a feeling of the reality of the surface physical world but also a feeling of the reality of existence that lies mysteriously and invisibly beneath its surface, I feel I have succeeded. At its best, photography is a symbol that not only serves to help illuminate some of the darkness of the unknown, but it also serves to lessen the fears that too often accompany the journeys from the known to the unknown.
Wynn Bullock
