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 SmithNever 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 SmithMy pictures are complex and so am I. When I am almost symbolistic in writing, there is a more limiting differenceโs of accepting, while I can be even more complex in the photographs and people can usually accept them within the framework of their own limitations or lack of limitations โ there is no dictionary meaningโฆ they can look up for the photographic image and allow it to confuse them.
W. Eugene SmithMy camera, my intentions stopped no man from falling. Nor did they aid him after he had fallen. It could be said that photographs be damned for they bind no wounds. Yet, I reasoned, if my photographs could cause compassionate horror within the viewer, they might also prod the conscience of that viewer into taking action.
W. Eugene Smith