--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Contemporary art photography, or, more…" description: "\"Contemporary art photography, or, more specifically, what I would term mainstream art photography, represents for the most part the mining of an exhaus..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/092/abigail-solomon-godeau-51510_art_contemporary-art-photography-or-more-spe_575202.jpg" --- # Contemporary art photography, or, more specifically, what… ![“Contemporary art photography, or, more specifically, what I would term mainstream art photography, represents for the most part the mining of an exhausted lode.” quote by Abigail Solomon-Godeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/092/abigail-solomon-godeau-51510_art_contemporary-art-photography-or-more-spe_575202.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/092/abigail-solomon-godeau-51510_art_contemporary-art-photography-or-more-spe_575202.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/092/abigail-solomon-godeau-51510_art_contemporary-art-photography-or-more-spe_575202.jpg) > “Contemporary art photography, or, more specifically, what I would term mainstream art photography, represents for the most part the mining of an exhausted lode.” [Abigail Solomon-Godeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-solomon-godeau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mainstream art photography often recycles exhausted visual ideas, lacking fresh perspective. **In simple terms:** Mainstream photography can become repetitive. Key Takeaway Seek originality in visual expression. Themes creativity authenticity critique Mood analytical critical Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - gallery curation - photography education - artist statements - media analysis Key Concepts art theory visual culture innovation Questions to Reflect On - What makes a photograph feel fresh? - How can photographers revitalize common themes? A Different Perspective Not all mainstream work lacks value; some resonates widely. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-photography/) [Contemporary art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemporary-art/) [Mainstream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mainstream/) [Mining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mining/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [Photography is such an important instrument in the education of our feelings and perception because of its duality. Photography represents the world we know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/photography-is-such-an-important-instrument-in-the-education-of-our/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [When I was in the 12th standard itself, I decided to join the Adyar Film Institute and study photography. I specifically chose photography because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajiv-menon/when-i-was-in-the-12th-standard-itself-i-decided-to-join-the-adyar/) [Rajiv Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajiv-menon/) > [Performance has to be mainstream art. This is what I'm fighting for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-abramovic/performance-has-to-be-mainstream-art-this-is-what-i-m-fighting-for/) [Marina Abramovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-abramovic/) > [I use whatever media I think will best express my ideas and therefore I don't have a lot invested in the idea of photography…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-piccinini/i-use-whatever-media-i-think-will-best-express-my-ideas-and-therefore/) [Patricia Piccinini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-piccinini/) > [There is a good deal of art that in some traditions of conceptual work are anti-affect, in fact a very large chunk of mainstream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-belem/there-is-a-good-deal-of-art-that-in-some-traditions-of-conceptual/) Laura Belem > [Art photography, although long since legitimized by all the conventional discourses of fine art, seems destined perpetually to recapitulate all the rituals of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-solomon-godeau/art-photography-although-long-since-legitimized-by-all-the/) [Abigail Solomon-Godeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-solomon-godeau/) > [It is a cruel, ironical art, photography. The dragging of captured moments into the future; moments that should have been allowed to be evaporate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-is-a-cruel-ironical-art-photography-the-dragging-of-captured/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Real photography is a wonderfully inclusive, democratic medium, whereas art photography is more often a private pursuit by conmen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jones-griffiths/real-photography-is-a-wonderfully-inclusive-democratic-medium-whereas/) [Philip Jones Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jones-griffiths/) > [I love being photographed, or I should say I love the art of photography. It's about people taking photographs of you, stealing them, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/i-love-being-photographed-or-i-should-say-i-love-the-art-of/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/personally-i-have-always-preferred-inspiration-to-information/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [I take pleasure in working with the non-art photographs that reside in public archives, essentially authorless and owned by the world itself, because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-light/i-take-pleasure-in-working-with-the-non-art-photographs-that-reside/) [Michael Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-light/) > [“The art of photography is all about capturing emotions not events.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/biju-karakkonam-nature-and-wildlife-photographer/the-art-of-photography-is-all-about-capturing-emotions-not-events/) [Biju Karakkonam, Nature and Wildlife Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/biju-karakkonam-nature-and-wildlife-photographer/) > [A lot of people seem to think that art or photography is about the way things look, or the surface of things. That's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-goldin/a-lot-of-people-seem-to-think-that-art-or-photography-is-about-the/) [Nan Goldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-goldin/) > [That celebrated marriage of science and art, photography, seemed at the time to join together how we look at the world, art, with how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-kosuth/that-celebrated-marriage-of-science-and-art-photography-seemed-at-the/) [Joseph Kosuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-kosuth/) > [“Photography wasn’t even considered part of the art world until fairly recently. I find it ironic that some people in the world of fine-art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-olsenius/photography-wasn-t-even-considered-part-of-the-art-world-until-fairly/) Richard Olsenius ## More by Abigail Solomon-Godeau > [Art photography, although long since legitimized by all the conventional discourses of fine art, seems destined perpetually to recapitulate all the rituals of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-solomon-godeau/art-photography-although-long-since-legitimized-by-all-the/) [Abigail Solomon-Godeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-solomon-godeau/) > [The thing itself is never just out there in the world waiting to be framed by the photographer's Leica; rather, it is something dynamically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-solomon-godeau/the-thing-itself-is-never-just-out-there-in-the-world-waiting-to-be/) [Abigail Solomon-Godeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-solomon-godeau/) > [In the final analysis, photography... is ever a hireling, ever the hired gun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-solomon-godeau/in-the-final-analysis-photography-is-ever-a-hireling-ever-the-hired/) [Abigail Solomon-Godeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-solomon-godeau/) > [... photography, like all camera-made images such as film and video, effaces the marks of its making (and maker) at the click of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-solomon-godeau/photography-like-all-camera-made-images-such-as-film-and-video/) [Abigail Solomon-Godeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-solomon-godeau/) > [While the aesthetics of consumption (photographic or otherwise) requires a heroicized myth of the artist, the exemplary practice of the player-off codes requires only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-solomon-godeau/while-the-aesthetics-of-consumption-photographic-or-otherwise/) [Abigail Solomon-Godeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-solomon-godeau/) > [As Plato insisted two thousand years ago, it is not by means of the image that moral, ethical, or political knowledge is produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-solomon-godeau/as-plato-insisted-two-thousand-years-ago-it-is-not-by-means-of-the/) [Abigail Solomon-Godeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-solomon-godeau/) [Explore all 7 Abigail Solomon-Godeau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-solomon-godeau/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Contemporary art photography, or, more specifically, what I would term mainstream art photography, represents for the most part the mining of an exhausted lode.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Abigail Solomon-Godeau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-solomon-godeau/contemporary-art-photography-or-more-specifically-what-i-would-term/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-solomon-godeau/contemporary-art-photography-or-more-specifically-what-i-would-term/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/092/abigail-solomon-godeau-51510_art_contemporary-art-photography-or-more-spe_575202.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/092/abigail-solomon-godeau-51510_art_contemporary-art-photography-or-more-spe_575202.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/092/abigail-solomon-godeau-51510_art_contemporary-art-photography-or-more-spe_575202.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Contemporary art photography, or, more specifically, what I would term mainstream art photography…” — Abigail Solomon-Godeau", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Abigail Solomon-Godeau", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-solomon-godeau/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Contemporary art photography, or, more specifically,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-solomon-godeau/contemporary-art-photography-or-more-specifically-what-i-would-term/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-solomon-godeau/contemporary-art-photography-or-more-specifically-what-i-would-term/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```