Home / Authors / Robert Adams

Robert Adams Quotes

Photographer

Robert Adams, born on May 8, 1937, is an American photographer known for his profound depiction of the urban and rural landscapes of the American Midwest. His work focuses on the impact of human activity on the natural environment.

Filter quotes by topic

All Photographer Photography Art Ifs Mind Trying Thinking Knows Way Self Artist Nonduality Photograph Robert Adams World Reality Silence Art Is Doe Oneness

Famous Robert Adams Quotes

“Philosophy can forsake too easily the details of experience… many writers and painters have demonstrated that thinking long about what art is or ought to be ruins the power to write or paint.”

Thinking Writing Long Art Philosophy Ought Art Is Paint Photographer Details Painter Ruins Forsake

Book:Beauty in photography: essays in defense of traditional values

Source: Beauty in photography: essays in defense of traditional values

“The history of art is filled with people who did not live long enough to enjoy a sympathetic public, and their misery argues that criticism should try to speed justice.”

People Should Trying Long Art Enough Enjoy Justice Art Is Criticism Filled Misery Photographer Speed Arguing Sympathetic

Book:Beauty in photography: essays in defense of traditional values

Source: Beauty in photography: essays in defense of traditional values

“...assume that art begins in unhappiness. True, the goal of art is to convey a vision of coherence and peace, but the effort to develop that vision starts in the more common experience of confusion and pain.”

Art Pain Goal Common Effort Vision Art Is Assuming Confusion Unhappiness Coherence Common Experience

Book:EW:100: centennial essays in honor of Edward Weston

Source: EW:100: centennial essays in honor of Edward Weston

“. . .art is a discovery of harmony, a vision of disparities reconciled, or shape beneath confusion.”

Art Vision Shapes Photography Art Is Discovery Harmony Confusion Disparity

Author:Robert Adams

“Why do most great pictures look uncontrived? Why do photographers bother with the deception, especially since it so often requires the hardest work of all? The answer is, I think, that the deception is necessary if the goal of art is to be reached: only pictures that look as if they had been easily made can convincingly suggest that beauty is commonplace.”

Ifs Thinking Looks Art Made Goal Answers Art Is Photographer Hardest Deception Bother Commonplace

Book:Beauty in photography: essays in defense of traditional values

Source: Beauty in photography: essays in defense of traditional values

“When art is defined by Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, you've got a society that's impoverished.”

Art Art Is Defined

Author:Robert Adams

About the Author

Born: May 8, 1937
Known for: Photographer
Quotes: 113

Books & Sources

Why People Photograph: Selected Essays and ReviewsRelated source material

Beauty in photography: essays in defense of traditional valuesRelated source material

Silence of the Heart: Dialogues with Robert AdamsRelated source material

Along some rivers: photographs and conversationsRelated source material

Aspects of American photography, 1976: April 1-April 30, 1976, Gallery 210Related source material

EW:100: centennial essays in honor of Edward WestonRelated source material

Paul Strand: essays on his life and workRelated source material

The new West: landscapes along the Colorado Front RangeRelated source material

Similar Authors

Frederick SommerBrowse related quotes
Jay MaiselBrowse related quotes
Sebastiao SalgadoBrowse related quotes
Walker EvansBrowse related quotes
Andreas FeiningerBrowse related quotes
Elliott ErwittBrowse related quotes
Chuck CloseBrowse related quotes
Josef KoudelkaBrowse related quotes
Emmet GowinBrowse related quotes
John SextonBrowse related quotes