“I will just say, appropriation is an intellectual idea until it happens to you. It's a philosophy, and it's got its own intellectual framework. Then there's what happens when it's your photograph. Then it's personal, and that's all I'll say.” IdeasPhilosophyHappensIntellectualPhotographFrameworkAppropriation Author:Sam Abell
“The reason I don't want to say anything about it is it has a strange power to take over the conversation. Just like it's doing with us. I was asked to participate in a documentary about Richard Prince, and be the voice of someone who was appropriated, and I declined. The reason I did is I don't want it to be the subject of the discussion of my work.” WantReasonVoiceSubjectsStrangeConversationDiscussionSay AnythingDocumentaries Author:Sam Abell
“I'm very involved in photographing America now, so I don't think of faraway places, as I did when I was young.” ThinkingAmericaYoungInvolvedFaraway Places Author:Sam Abell
“I now want to be a photographer of my time, and our common culture.” WantCultureCommonPhotographerMy TimeCommon Culture Author:Sam Abell
“[ My time and our common culture] it's what I'm photographing, and I'm very involved with that.” CultureCommonInvolvedMy TimeCommon Culture Author:Sam Abell
“What I'm interested in is modern American history. I'm taken with the changes that have occurred in America in my lifetime.” AmericaTakenModernLifetimeAmerican History Author:Sam Abell
“I'm interested in smokers standing on ledges, and big box stores, the rise of the suburbs, and the hollowing out of small towns. Self-storage. Things that didn't exist 50 years ago. Our common culture. What we have agreed is OK to live with.” YearsSelfBigsCultureCommonYears AgoStandingTownsBoxesStoresSmall TownSuburbsStorageSmokersLedgesCommon Culture Author:Sam Abell
“In my first class at the University of Kentucky, my American Literature professor came in, and the first sentence out of his mouth was "The central theme of American Literature is an attempt to reconcile what we've done to the New World." wrote that down in my notebook, and thought, "What is he talking about?" But that's what I think about now. The New World and what we've done to it.” ThinkingWorldFirstsDoneLiteratureTalkingClassMouthsUniversitySentencesThemeProfessorsNew WorldNotebookReconcileFirst ClassKentuckyAmerican Literature Author:Sam Abell
“I did a story for the Geographic on Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and Stephen Ambrose was the writer. He said, "I've got the easiest job in the world. I just have to re-tell the story of the greatest fishing, camping, hunting, canoeing trip of all time. You, Sam, have the hardest job, which is, pretend like nothing has happened in the last 200 years.” WorldYearsSaidStoriesJobsLastsHappenedHardestAll TimeFishingHuntingCampingHardest JobCanoeing Author:Sam Abell
