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Top 25 W. Eugene Smith Quotes (2025 Update)

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “What use having a great depth of field, if there is not an adequate depth of feeling?”

1. “What use having a great depth of field, if there is not an adequate depth of feeling?”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “I think photojournalism is documentary photography with a purpose.”

2. “I think photojournalism is documentary photography with a purpose.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “The journalistic photographer can have no other than a personal approach; and it is impossible for him to be completely objective. Honest – yes. Objective – no.”

3. “The journalistic photographer can have no other than a personal approach; and it is impossible for him to be completely objective. Honest – yes. Objective – no.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “Available light is any damn light that is available!”

4. “Available light is any damn light that is available!”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “I didn’t write the rules. Why would I follow them?”

5. “I didn’t write the rules. Why would I follow them?”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “I’ve never made any picture, good or bad, without paying for it in emotional turmoil.”

6. “I’ve never made any picture, good or bad, without paying for it in emotional turmoil.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “The purpose of all art is to cause a deep and emotion, also one that is entertaining or pleasing. Out of the depth and entertainment comes value.”

7. “The purpose of all art is to cause a deep and emotion, also one that is entertaining or pleasing. Out of the depth and entertainment comes value.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “With considerable soul searching, that to the utmost of my ability, I have let truth be the prejudice.”

8. “With considerable soul searching, that to the utmost of my ability, I have let truth be the prejudice.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “The world just does not fit conveniently into the format of a 35mm camera.”

9. “The world just does not fit conveniently into the format of a 35mm camera.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “Never have I found the limits of the photographic potential. Every horizon, upon being reached, reveals another beckoning in the distance. Always, I am on the threshold.”

10. “Never have I found the limits of the photographic potential. Every horizon, upon being reached, reveals another beckoning in the distance. Always, I am on the threshold.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “Passion is in all great searches and is necessary to all creative endeavors.”

11. “Passion is in all great searches and is necessary to all creative endeavors.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.”

12. “Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “An artist must be ruthlessly selfish.”

13. “An artist must be ruthlessly selfish.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “I try to take what voice I have and I give it to those who don’t have one at all.”

14. “I try to take what voice I have and I give it to those who don’t have one at all.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “Hardening of the categories causes art disease.”

15. “Hardening of the categories causes art disease.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “I would that my photographs might be, not the coverage of a news event, but an indictment of war.”

16. “I would that my photographs might be, not the coverage of a news event, but an indictment of war.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “You can’t photograph if you’re not in love.”

17. “You can’t photograph if you’re not in love.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “The first word I would remove from the folklore of journalism is the word objective.”

18. “The first word I would remove from the folklore of journalism is the word objective.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “Negatives are the notebooks, the jottings, the false starts, the whims, the poor drafts, and the good draft but never the completed version of the work The print and a proper one is the only completed photograph, whether it is specifically shaded for reproduction, or for a museum wall.”

19. “Negatives are the notebooks, the jottings, the false starts, the whims, the poor drafts, and the good draft but never the completed version of the work The print and a proper one is the only completed photograph, whether it is specifically shaded for reproduction, or for a museum wall.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “I can’t stand these damn shows on museum walls with neat little frames, where you look at the images as if they were pieces of art. I want them to be pieces of life!”

20. “I can’t stand these damn shows on museum walls with neat little frames, where you look at the images as if they were pieces of art. I want them to be pieces of life!”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “I am constantly torn between the attitude of the conscientious journalist who is a recorder and interpreter of the facts and of the creative artist who often is necessarily at poetic odds with the literal facts.”

21. “I am constantly torn between the attitude of the conscientious journalist who is a recorder and interpreter of the facts and of the creative artist who often is necessarily at poetic odds with the literal facts.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “My pictures are complex and so am I.”

22. “My pictures are complex and so am I.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “If I can get them to think, get them to feel, get them to see, then I’ve done about all that I can as a teacher.”

23. “If I can get them to think, get them to feel, get them to see, then I’ve done about all that I can as a teacher.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “Most photographers seem to operate with a pane of glass between themselves and their subjects. They just can’t get inside and know the subject.”

24. “Most photographers seem to operate with a pane of glass between themselves and their subjects. They just can’t get inside and know the subject.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “Many claim I am a photographer of tragedy. In the greater sense I am not, for though I often photograph where the tragic emotion is present, the result is almost invariably affirmative.”

25. “Many claim I am a photographer of tragedy. In the greater sense I am not, for though I often photograph where the tragic emotion is present, the result is almost invariably affirmative.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “My photographs at best hold only a small length, but through them I would suggest and criticize and illuminate and try to give compassionate understanding.”

26. “My photographs at best hold only a small length, but through them I would suggest and criticize and illuminate and try to give compassionate understanding.”

— W. Eugene Smith

W. Eugene Smith Quote: “In music I still prefer the minor key, and in printing I like the light coming from the dark. I like pictures that surmount the darkness, and many of my photographs are that way. It is the way I see photographically. For practical reasons, I think it looks better in print too.”

27. “In music I still prefer the minor key, and in printing I like the light coming from the dark. I like pictures that surmount the darkness, and many of my photographs are that way. It is the way I see photographically. For practical reasons, I think it looks better in print too.”

— W. Eugene Smith

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