Painting is something that you need to do, if not every day, then certainly most days. It is almost like being a pianist: if you stop, you lose something.
John BergerEver since the Greek tragedies, artists have, from time to time, asked themselves how they might influence ongoing political events.
John BergerPhotographs bear witness to a human choice being exercised in a given situation. A photograph is a result of the photographer's decision that it is worth recording that this particular event or this particular object has been seen. If everything that existed were continually being photographed, every photograph would become meaningless.
John BergerDrawing is a way of coming upon the connection between things, just like metaphor in poetry reconnects what has become separated.
John BergerThe essence of songs is neither vocal nor cerebral but organic. We follow songs in order to be enclosed. We find ourselves inside a message. The unsung, impersonal world remains outside, on the other surface of a placenta. All songs, even when their content or rendering is strongly masculine, operate maternally.
John Berger