--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What a photograph shows us is how a…" description: "\"What a photograph shows us is how a particular thing could be seen, or could be made to look - at a specific moment, in a specific context, by a specif..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/343/a-d-coleman-48088_employing_what-a-photograph-shows-us-is-how-a-part_835267.png" --- # What a photograph shows us is how a particular thing could… ![“What a photograph shows us is how a particular thing could be seen, or could be made to look - at a specific moment, in a specific context, by a specific photographer employing specific tools.” quote by A. D. Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/343/a-d-coleman-48088_employing_what-a-photograph-shows-us-is-how-a-part_835267.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/343/a-d-coleman-48088_employing_what-a-photograph-shows-us-is-how-a-part_835267.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/343/a-d-coleman-48088_employing_what-a-photograph-shows-us-is-how-a-part_835267.png) > “What a photograph shows us is how a particular thing could be seen, or could be made to look - at a specific moment, in a specific context, by a specific photographer employing specific tools.” [A. D. Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-d-coleman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A photograph’s meaning depends on the subject, moment, context, photographer, and tools used. **In simple terms:** Photos reflect choices and context. Key Takeaway Consider the photographer’s intent. Themes photography perception context Mood analytical observational Type artistic educational When to use this quote - art criticism - media analysis - education - exhibition Key Concepts visual theory subjectivity technology Questions to Reflect On - What choices shape a photo’s story? - How does equipment affect perception? A Different Perspective Technical constraints can limit expression, challenging the claim of pure objectivity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Employing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/employing/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Particular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/particular/) [Photograph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photograph/) [Photograph Shows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photograph-shows-595220/) [Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographer/) [Photographer Employing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographer-employing-595221/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Shows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shows/) [Specific Context](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/specific-context-595222/) [Specific Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/specific-photographer-595219/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Tools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tools/) ## Related quotes > [The typical nature photograph shows a butterfly on a pretty flower. The conservation photograph shows the same thing, but with a bulldozer coming at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-sartore/the-typical-nature-photograph-shows-a-butterfly-on-a-pretty-flower/) [Joel Sartore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-sartore/) > [I have experience and I am employing it in the service of a Chilean road for Chile's problems. We always take advantage of experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvador-allende/i-have-experience-and-i-am-employing-it-in-the-service-of-a-chilean/) [Salvador Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvador-allende/) > [That is my way of doing things, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to anybody else; if you need to do technical exercises, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-andre-hamelin/that-is-my-way-of-doing-things-and-i-wouldn-t-necessarily-recommend/) [Marc-Andre Hamelin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-andre-hamelin/) > [People have to stop employing illegal immigrants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/people-have-to-stop-employing-illegal-immigrants/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [It is quite possible, and not uncommon, to read most laboriously, even so as to get by heart the words of a book, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/it-is-quite-possible-and-not-uncommon-to-read-most-laboriously-even/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [The most disastrous phenomenon of the current situation is the factor that imperialism is employing for its own ends all the powers of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clara-zetkin/the-most-disastrous-phenomenon-of-the-current-situation-is-the-factor/) [Clara Zetkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clara-zetkin/) > [People spend their lives in the service of their passions instead of employing their passions in the service of their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-steele/people-spend-their-lives-in-the-service-of-their-passions-instead-of/) [Richard Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-steele/) > [The fortune of our lives depends on employing well the short period of our youth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-fortune-of-our-lives-depends-on-employing-well-the-short-period/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Employed as I had been employing it, liquor is a fixative of old patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/employed-as-i-had-been-employing-it-liquor-is-a-fixative-of-old/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [For me to think in terms of employing security seems ostentatious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-me-to-think-in-terms-of-employing-security-seems-ostentatious/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't know how this company got the name National Shakespeare Company, because it was literally like retards employing retards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-corddry/i-don-t-know-how-this-company-got-the-name-national-shakespeare/) [Rob Corddry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-corddry/) > [The Postal Service is huge - employing more than a half million people - and its history is long and complicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/the-postal-service-is-huge-employing-more-than-a-half-million-people/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [ELEGY, n. A composition in verse, in which, without employing any of the methods of humor, the writer aims to produce in the reader's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/elegy-n-a-composition-in-verse-in-which-without-employing-any-of-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Technological society leads to increasing numbers of people who cannot adapt to the inhuman rhythm of modern life with its emphasis on specialization. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/technological-society-leads-to-increasing-numbers-of-people-who/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [We endeavour to employ only symmetrical figures, such as should not only be an aid to reasoning, through the sense of sight, but should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-venn/we-endeavour-to-employ-only-symmetrical-figures-such-as-should-not/) [John Venn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-venn/) ## More by A. D. Coleman > [... the battle for the acceptance of photography as Art was not only counter-productive but counter-revolutionary. The most important photography is most emphatically not Art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-d-coleman/the-battle-for-the-acceptance-of-photography-as-art-was-not-only/) [A. D. Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-d-coleman/) > [It is no coincidence that one cardinal rule in brainwashing is to remove from the victim all photographs of himself and people he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-d-coleman/it-is-no-coincidence-that-one-cardinal-rule-in-brainwashing-is-to/) [A. D. Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-d-coleman/) > [The simple fact is this: There are no neutral photographs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-d-coleman/the-simple-fact-is-this-there-are-no-neutral-photographs/) [A. D. Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-d-coleman/) > [The past is always with us, in the form of our photographs, which we feel as we might a rosary, wearing them smooth with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-d-coleman/the-past-is-always-with-us-in-the-form-of-our-photographs-which-we/) [A. D. Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-d-coleman/) > [Any photographer worth his/her salt - that is, any photographer of professional caliber, in control of the craft, regardless of imagistic bent - can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-d-coleman/any-photographer-worth-his-her-salt-that-is-any-photographer-of/) [A. D. Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-d-coleman/) > [We've spent now about 150 years trying to convince ourselves that photographs are reliable evidence, some unimpeachable slice of the real world. That was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-d-coleman/we-ve-spent-now-about-150-years-trying-to-convince-ourselves-that/) [A. D. Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-d-coleman/) > [Photographs are of course about their makers, and are to be read for what they disclose in that regard no less than for what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-d-coleman/photographs-are-of-course-about-their-makers-and-are-to-be-read-for/) [A. D. Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-d-coleman/) [Explore all 8 A. D. Coleman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-d-coleman/) ## More Employing quotes > [We endeavour to employ only symmetrical figures, such as should not only be an aid to reasoning, through the sense of sight, but should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-venn/we-endeavour-to-employ-only-symmetrical-figures-such-as-should-not/) [John Venn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-venn/) > [Technological society leads to increasing numbers of people who cannot adapt to the inhuman rhythm of modern life with its emphasis on specialization. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/technological-society-leads-to-increasing-numbers-of-people-who/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [ELEGY, n. A composition in verse, in which, without employing any of the methods of humor, the writer aims to produce in the reader's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/elegy-n-a-composition-in-verse-in-which-without-employing-any-of-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [The Postal Service is huge - employing more than a half million people - and its history is long and complicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/the-postal-service-is-huge-employing-more-than-a-half-million-people/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [I don't know how this company got the name National Shakespeare Company, because it was literally like retards employing retards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-corddry/i-don-t-know-how-this-company-got-the-name-national-shakespeare/) [Rob Corddry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-corddry/) > [For me to think in terms of employing security seems ostentatious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-me-to-think-in-terms-of-employing-security-seems-ostentatious/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Employed as I had been employing it, liquor is a fixative of old patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/employed-as-i-had-been-employing-it-liquor-is-a-fixative-of-old/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [The fortune of our lives depends on employing well the short period of our youth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-fortune-of-our-lives-depends-on-employing-well-the-short-period/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [People spend their lives in the service of their passions instead of employing their passions in the service of their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-steele/people-spend-their-lives-in-the-service-of-their-passions-instead-of/) [Richard Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-steele/) > [The most disastrous phenomenon of the current situation is the factor that imperialism is employing for its own ends all the powers of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clara-zetkin/the-most-disastrous-phenomenon-of-the-current-situation-is-the-factor/) [Clara Zetkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clara-zetkin/) > [It is quite possible, and not uncommon, to read most laboriously, even so as to get by heart the words of a book, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/it-is-quite-possible-and-not-uncommon-to-read-most-laboriously-even/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [People have to stop employing illegal immigrants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/people-have-to-stop-employing-illegal-immigrants/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [That is my way of doing things, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to anybody else; if you need to do technical exercises, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-andre-hamelin/that-is-my-way-of-doing-things-and-i-wouldn-t-necessarily-recommend/) [Marc-Andre Hamelin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-andre-hamelin/) > [I have experience and I am employing it in the service of a Chilean road for Chile's problems. We always take advantage of experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvador-allende/i-have-experience-and-i-am-employing-it-in-the-service-of-a-chilean/) [Salvador Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvador-allende/) > [Britain needs a simpler tax system which is simple to understand, where there are no loop-holes, where the very rich do not avoid tax…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-osborne/britain-needs-a-simpler-tax-system-which-is-simple-to-understand/) [George Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-osborne/) [Browse all 131 Employing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/employing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What a photograph shows us is how a particular thing could be seen, or could be made to look - at a specific moment, in a specific context, by a specific photographer employing specific tools.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "A. D. 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