Quick Quotes: John Szarkowski

"To quote out of context is the essence of the photographer's craft."

John Szarkowski

I was going to post some photographs today when I ran across this quote from John Szarkowski which I couldn't get out of my mind, so the photos will have to wait. The reason these words struck me was because of the way the thought relates to prior posts I have written entitled "Photography And Truth" and "Photoshop And The Creative Process".

What one doesn't see which lies outside the frame has the potential to change the entire meaning of what it is that we are presented with in the frame. All may not be what it seems.

Incidentally, I read the quote in Szarkowski's book "The Photographer's Eye", which was originally printed in the early 1960's and has just been reprinted. It is now, again, easily available and well worth adding to one's photographic library.