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Quote by Beaumont Newhall

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From Adams to Stieglitz: Pioneers of Modern Photography

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Author

Beaumont Newhall
Beaumont Newhall

Beaumont Newhall (June 22, 1908 - February 26, 1993) was an American photography historian, curator, and critic, widely regarded as one of the most important photography theorists and historians of the 20th century. His work spanned various aspects of photography, from criticism to museum curation. more

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“It’s January and I’m kicking snow off the ground. I just threw out the flower you made me promise to water, handle with care, because I was too careless, you said. Careless with things and people, around me and behind and I remember being still for just a second or two, thinking that it’s so much easier to leave and start anew, than take care of what’s already here.”

“...But on social media, everyone is an 'expert' judge: for sure anyone can get it right through deep analyses and in retrospect, sitting comfortably at home, typing on their soapbox after the fact; but at the same time, most people will get it wrong when forced to act or speak on impulse, in a panicked, heat-of-the-moment situation with no time to think. In its self-righteousness, or in any way whatsoever, the creation can never fool the Creator.”

“We can think of Dy5topian inhabitants as 'negative thought-form creations', but we must remember that while they are created and sustained by our fear, this does not make them immaterial. These 'beings' have substance and mass. They display relatively consistent physical characteristics and engage in consistent behavior patterns.”

“Just as we do not fully understand the miraculous nature of our world―how life came to be, where we are going, and what the meaning is―similarly we cannot fully understand how our fear calls into existence the substance-based, negative thought-form creation of Dy5topia, or how it can exist without our seeing it more readily.”

“Optimists may have fugitive doubts about the basic desirability of existence, but pessimists never doubt that existence is basically undesirable. If you interrupted them in the middle of an ecstatic moment, which pessimists do have, and asked if existence is basically undesirable, they would reply “Of course” before returning to their ecstasy.”