robert adams

I have been rereading parts of Robert Adams’ book "Why People Photograph" and was struck by and could relate to these two passages:

“At our best and most fortunate we make pictures because of what stands in front of the camera, to honor what is greater and more interesting than we are. We never accomplish this perfectly, though in return we are given something perfect – a sense of inclusion. Our subject thus redefines us, and is part of the biography by which we want to be known.”

"Photographers must withstand, with the help of their families and friends, the psychic battering that comes from what they see. In order to make pictures that no one has made before, they have to be attentive and imaginative, qualities partly assigned and partly chosen, but in any case, ones that leave them vulnerable. When Robert Frank put down his camera after photographing 'The Americans' he could not so readily escape the sadness of the world he recorded as we could when we closed the book."