Henry Holmes Smith famous quotes

Somebody said recently that the best thing a student could do was to get in some shows and publish a book; but nothing about becoming a human being, nothing about having important feelings or concepts of humanity. That's the sort of thing that is bad education. I'd say be a human being first and if you happen to wind up using photography, that's good for photography.
-- Henry Holmes Smith

#Photography #Book #Wind

I think control is the wrong word. I would put it this way. You see a lovely girl across a crowded room and you walk toward her with hope in your mind. That's the way [my] pictures are made.
-- Henry Holmes Smith

#Girl #Thinking #Mind

The intensely felt subjective image is always the reason for making a first rate picture.
-- Henry Holmes Smith

#Firsts #Reason #Rate

The brightest light makes the blackest mark.
-- Henry Holmes Smith

#Light #Mark

People are competing to win at a game that is a loser's game. The game is to have better routine images than someone else's routine images. If you want a prescription for routine images, you just have to go through any student's portfolio.
-- Henry Holmes Smith

#Winning #Games #People

In a world of disturbing images, the general body of photography is bland, dealing complacently with nature and treating our preconceptions as insights. Strange, private worlds rarely slip past our guard.
-- Henry Holmes Smith

#Photography #Past #World

How aware were photographers in the past of other visual arts? "No photographer of any distinction at all could approach his work without some awareness of what was going on in other visual media, and for that matter neither the painter nor the draughtsman could ignore photography."

An American has invented a remote control that will turn off any telly within a 20ft radius. What a marvellous device! What a splendid invention! What a really helpful and improving way of devoting your time to building something that turns off culture. Next week, I'm instigating Burn a Book Week, to encourage even more conversation. I've come up with a fantastic little device which I'll call a box of matches.

The Old Testament is responsible for more atheism, agnosticism, disbelief - call it what you will - than any book ever written; it has emptied more churches than all the counterattractions of cinema, motor bicycle and golf course.

To her- Hand in hand we come Christopher Robin and I To lay this book in your lap. Say you're surprised? Say you like it? Say it's just what you wanted? Because it's yours- because we love you.

Books are the basis; purity is the force; preaching is the essence; utility is the principle.

The buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching toward infinity...

There, like the wind through woods in riot, Through him the gale of life blew high; The tree of man was never quiet: Then 'twas the Roman, now 'tis I.

When God wanted to create the horse, he said to the South Wind, "I want to make a creature of you. Condense." And the Wind condensed.

Other times when I hear the wind blow I feel that just hearing the wind blow makes it worth being born.

I don't know where this Arctic wind has come from but it's freezing!