Who uses this quotation?

One of my colleagues here has, in his signature block, a very apt quotation to the general effect that photography well represents the appearance of things but things are rarely as they appear.

Carla would like to use that original quote as the epigram for the "photographs" section of her forthcoming book, but I can't put my hands on it.

Would the member that uses that quote please speak up, or anybody else who knows who that is please "finger" him (or, if anyone recognizes the quote proper, perhaps you could give me an accurate transcription so I can track down the source).

Thanks so much.

Best regards,

Doug

Doug_Kerr said:

Would the member that uses that quote please speak up, or anybody else who knows who that is please "finger" him (or, if anyone recognizes the quote proper, perhaps you could give me an accurate transcription so I can track down the source).

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I know who you mean, but I can't lay my finger on his exact name ...

Maybe it originated from Buddhism?
Things are not what they appear to be: nor are they otherwise.
Surangama Sutra (according to http://www.viewonbuddhism.org/resources/buddhist_quotes.html). It probably lost a lot in translation.

Or it came from this: http://www.quotesandpoem.com/quotes/showquotes/author/phaedrus/116237

Cheers,
Bart

Hi Doug,

Is this the one you were looking for?

“Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.”

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If so, it seems to be a quote by Duane Michals, see here. Wendy Thurman's signature uses this quote. HTH.

Cheers,

Hi, Cem,

Cem_Usakligil said:

Hi Doug,

Is this the one you were looking for?
If so, it seems to be a quote by Duane Michals, see here. Wendy Thurman's signature uses this quote. HTH.

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Just what we needed. Thanks so much.

Thanks, Wendy, for your apt choice of an epigram!

Best regards,

Doug

Seems to be an accurate quote, especially for those who photograph in large format. By that I mean, the image you see on at the camera is reversed and upside down, the ground glass has an odd sense of color, it's grainy, and un-evenly illuminated (and usually wide open, with very thin DOF) and has a strange sense of presents seeing a 3d scene projected on a 2d surface with both eyes. The final photograph is usually very delicate in tones, smooth and with a deep focus (if stopped down), void of color or very smooth in colors if shot in color, and entrancing to look at! That quote is large format to a T

Hi, Daniel,

Daniel Buck said:

Seems to be an accurate quote, especially for those who photograph in large format. By that I mean, the image you see on at the camera is reversed and upside down, the ground glass has an odd sense of color, it's grainy, and un-evenly illuminated (and usually wide open, with very thin DOF) and has a strange sense of presents seeing a 3d scene projected on a 2d surface with both eyes. The final photograph is usually very delicate in tones, smooth and with a deep focus (if stopped down), void of color or very smooth in colors if shot in color, and entrancing to look at! That quote is large format to a T .

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An excellent observation. It reminds us that then are even multiple kinds of "appearance".

Slightly off to the side, I am tickled by that wondrous quote from Robbie Burns:


By the way, now that we are in conversation, I have meant to mention that your use of the lower-case "d" in the shorthand expression of spatial dimensionality ("2d", "3d") differs from what is more familiar to me ("2-D", "3-D").

It always makes me think, when I see your signature line, mentioning "3d photographer":


Thanks for your insights.

Best regards,

Doug

For me, the quote captures the essence of photography as the camera "sees" so much differently than the eye. Photographs are, of course, deptictions of reality (extreme techniques excepted) but when one factors in the frame imposed, lens considerations, compositional elements, and other such elements, photography becomes a Separate Reality. (Apologies to Carlos Castenada.)

Wendy