The only objective truth that photographs offer is the assertion that somebody or something... was somewhere and took a picture. Allan Sekula More Quotes by Allan Sekula More Quotes From Allan Sekula Documentary photography has amassed mountains of evidence. And yet... the genre has simultaneously contributed much to spectacle, to retinal excitation, to voyeurism, to terror, envy and nostalgia, and only a little to the critical understanding of the social world. Allan Sekula envy understanding photography Documentary is thought to be art when it transcends its reference to the world, when the work can be regarded, first and foremost, as an act of self-expression on the part of the artist. Allan Sekula expression self art Black-and-white photos tell the truth. That's why insurance companies use them. Allan Sekula black-and-white telling-the-truth use The photograph is an incomplete utterance, a message that depends on some external matrix of conditions and presuppositions for its readability. Allan Sekula utterance photograph messages Photography promises an enhanced mastery of nature, but photography also threatens conflagration and anarchy. Allan Sekula mastery photography promise How does photography serve to legitimate and normalize existing power relationships? ... How is historical and social memory preserved, transformed, restricted and obliterated by photographs? Allan Sekula historical photography memories The making of a human likeness on film is a political act. Allan Sekula film political humans
