---
title: "1 Visual Vocabulary Quotes By Trevor Paglen"
description: "1 Visual Vocabulary quotes by Trevor Paglen. Plus more from Trevor Paglen and more Visual Vocabulary sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/trevor-paglen-4201_attention_photographs-don-t-reveal-much-at-all-but_3180541.jpg"
---

> [Photographs don't 'reveal' much at all but instead help us generate a kind of visual vocabulary that we can use to make sense of the world and direct our attention to certain things around us. In other words, they help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/photographs-don-t-reveal-much-at-all-but-instead-help-us-generate-a/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6df/trevor-paglen-4201_attention_photographs-don-t-reveal-much-at-all-but_3180541.jpg)

## More by Trevor Paglen

> [I believe that art can make relevant and progressive contributions to culture and society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/i-believe-that-art-can-make-relevant-and-progressive-contributions-to/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [Photography has become so fundamental to the way we see that 'photography' and 'seeing' are becoming more and more synonymous. The ubiquity of photography…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/photography-has-become-so-fundamental-to-the-way-we-see-that/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [I'm pretty cynical about the future, but I feel like that's not an ethical position for me to take. It's not okay for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/i-m-pretty-cynical-about-the-future-but-i-feel-like-that-s-not-an/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [Civilian law around aviation is much looser than those governing military. Civilian planes can basically fly wherever they want in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/civilian-law-around-aviation-is-much-looser-than-those-governing/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [I think the automation of vision is a much bigger deal than the invention of perspective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/i-think-the-automation-of-vision-is-a-much-bigger-deal-than-the/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [Many of the things that shape the way the world looks are, quite frankly, invisible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/many-of-the-things-that-shape-the-way-the-world-looks-are-quite/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [Geosynchronous spacecraft will be among civilization's most enduring remnants, quietly circling Earth until the Earth is no more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/geosynchronous-spacecraft-will-be-among-civilization-s-most-enduring/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [Traditionally, images have functioned as representations of something in the world, but we are quickly approaching the point where vast majority of images are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/traditionally-images-have-functioned-as-representations-of-something/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [Images can make realities out of people and struggles - the reality we give them. Images really matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/images-can-make-realities-out-of-people-and-struggles-the-reality-we/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [It's productive and fun to try interpreting cave paintings, but ultimately, they can't teach us anything beyond what we imagine them to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/it-s-productive-and-fun-to-try-interpreting-cave-paintings-but/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [Anything humans can do in space, robots can do better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/anything-humans-can-do-in-space-robots-can-do-better/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [Before Christianity became the Roman Empire's official religion in the 4th Century, 'mystery religions,' organized around a central canon of secret knowledge, were widespread.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/before-christianity-became-the-roman-empire-s-official-religion-in/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [When we look up into the starry night sky, we tend to see reflections of ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/when-we-look-up-into-the-starry-night-sky-we-tend-to-see-reflections/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [“The CIA, an agency designed to operate outside the law, was now free to pursue its vision of a new world, to create new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/the-cia-an-agency-designed-to-operate-outside-the-law-was-now-free-to/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

> [Once, I got lost in the middle of the desert and had to follow the North Star to find the dirt road where my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/once-i-got-lost-in-the-middle-of-the-desert-and-had-to-follow-the/)

[Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/)

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