Some excerpts:
- "Making photographs has to be, then, a personal matter; when it is not, the results are not persuasive. Only the artist's presence in the work can convince us that its affirmation resulted from and has been tested by human experience."
- The best criticism comes from "the deepest commitment to sharing the picture with others. Anything less than that means defeat, calling attention not to the picture but to the critic."
- "When we are young, we want art that is filled with the bitter facts, because we believe that evil can be overcome if we face it; when we grow older and begin to doubt this optimistic belief, we want art that does not simply reinforce the pain of our disillusionment. In pictures like those by Hine the requirements of young and old are both met; the photographs urge reform, but seem to suggest that the need for it is not the most important thing to be said of life."
- "Contrary to popular expectations, many of the best nature pictures – often the truest and finally most reassuring – do contain people and their works."
fiction: Slaughterhouse-Five. I love repetition, and Vonnegut uses to great effect. I read most of it in an evening.