on what photography is

“Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees.”

Paul Strand

about artists’ worlds

“The material of the artist lies not within himself nor in the fabrications of his imagination, but in the world around him. The element which gives life to the great Picassos and Cezannes, to the paintings of Van Gogh, is the relationship of the artist to context, to the truth of the real world. It is the way he sees this world and translates it into art that determines whether the work of art becomes a new and active force within reality, to widen and transform man’s experience. The artist’s world is limitless. It can be found anywhere far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep.”

Paul Strand

White Fence, Port Kent, New York

By Paul Strand, 1916

Abstraction

Photo by Paul Strand, Twin Lakes, Connecticut, 1916

on what you see

“No matter what lens you use, no matter what speed the film, no matter how you develop it, no matter how you print it, you cannot see more than you can see.”

Paul Strand

Photography as record of your living

“Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees. You may see and be affected by other people’s ways, you may even use them to find your own, but you will eventually have to free yourself of them. That is what Nietzsche meant when he said, “I have just read Schopenhauer, now I have to get rid of him.” He knew how insidious other people’s ways could be, particularly those which have the forcefulness of profound experience, if you let them get between you and your own vision. “

Paul Strand

Side Porch, Vermont

Photo by Paul Strand

1946