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Quote by W. Eugene Smith

“In music I still prefer the minor key, and in printing I like the light coming from the dark. I like pictures that surmount the darkness, and many of my photographs are that way. It is the way I see photographically. For practical reasons, I think it looks better in print too.”

Quote by W. Eugene Smith

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W. Eugene Smith
W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith was an influential American photographer known for his profound documentary photography. His work is renowned for its empathy towards human suffering and its focus on social issues. Smith's contributions to photography have had a lasting impact, and he is widely considered one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century. more

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“Up to and including the moment of exposure, the photographer is working in an undeniably subjective way. By his choice of technical approach, by the selection of the subject matterand by his decision as to the exact cinematic instant of exposure, he is blending the variables of interpretation into an emotional whole.”

“I am an idealist. I often feel I would like to be an artist in an ivory tower. Yet it is imperative that I speak to people, so I must desert that ivory tower. To do this, I am a journalist - a photojournalist. But I am always torn between the attitude of the journalist, who is a recorder of facts, and the artist, who is often necessarily at odds with the facts. My principle concern is for honesty, above all honesty with myself.”