Famous Robert Frank Quotes
“Above all, life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference”
Robert Frank, "Statement, 1958"; republished in: Vicki Goldberg. Photography in Print: Writings from 1816 to the Present https://books.google.nl/books?id=U3qXOp1iT6QC&pg=PA401, 1981, p. 401
Variant: Life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference and it is important to see what is invisible to others.
Context: I have been frequently accused of deliberately twisting subject matter to my point of view. Above all, I know that life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference. Opinion often consists of a kind of criticism. But criticism can come out of love. It is important to see what is invisible to others — perhaps the look of hope or the look of sadness. Also, it is always the instantaneous reaction to oneself that produces a photograph.
My photographs are not planned or composed in advance, and I do not anticipate that the onlooker will share my viewpoint. However, I feel that if my photograph leaves an image on his mind, something has been accomplished.
Robert Frank, in: Nathan Lyons, Photographers on photography: a critical anthology, (1966), p. 66
“People are my favourite subject because there are no two alike, so my work never becomes routine.”
Robert Frank interview in: Tom Ang (2010), The Complete Photographer https://books.google.nl/books?id=HX-Fcm6XP5UC&pg=PA43, p. 43
