Quotations

"I see no reason for recording the obvious."

— Edward Weston, American photographer, born 1886

"My own eyes are no more than scouts on a preliminary search, for the camera's eye may entirely change my idea."

— Edward Weston, American photographer, born 1886

"Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual."

— Edward Weston, American photographer, born 1886

"Now, to consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravity before going for a walk."

— Edward Weston, American photographer, born March 24, 1886

"Very often people looking at my pictures say, You must have had to wait a long time to get that cloud just right (or that shadow, or the light). As a matter of fact, I almost never wait, that is, unless I can see that the thing will be right in a few minutes. But if I must wait an hour for the shadow to move, or the light to change, or the cow to graze in the other direction, then I put up my camera and go on, knowing that I am likely to find three subjects just as good in the same hour."

— Edward Weston, American photographer, born 1886

"To photograph a rock, have it look like a rock, but be more than a rock."

— Edward Weston, American photographer, born 1886

"The prejudice many photographers have against color photography comes from not thinking of color as form. You can say things with color that can't be said in black and white. Those who say that color will eventually replace black and white are talking nonsense. The two do not compete with each other. They are different means to different ends."

— Edward Weston, American photographer, born 1886

"Anything more than 500 yards from the car just isn't photogenic."

— Edward Weston, American photographer, born 1886

"The most erotic zone is the imagination."

— Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer, born April 8, 1941

"It is not possible for a man to be elegant without a touch of femininity."

— Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer, born April 8, 1941

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."

— Edith Wharton, American novelist, short story writer, born January 24, 1862

"Set wide the window. Let me drink the day."

— Edith Wharton, American poet, died August 11, 1937

"I maintain that two and two would continue to make four, in spite of the whine of the amateur for three, or the cry of the critic for five."

— James Whistler, American-English painter, born July 11, 1834

"I can't tell you if genius is hereditary, because heaven has granted me no offspring."

— James Whistler, American-English painter, died July 17, 1903