--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only objective truth that photographs…" description: "\"The only objective truth that photographs offer is the assertion that somebody or something... was somewhere and took a picture.\" — Allan Sekula" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/allan-sekula-48287_assertion_the-only-objective-truth-that-photograph_2926454.jpg" --- # The only objective truth that photographs offer is the… ![“The only objective truth that photographs offer is the assertion that somebody or something... was somewhere and took a picture.” quote by Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/allan-sekula-48287_assertion_the-only-objective-truth-that-photograph_2926454.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/allan-sekula-48287_assertion_the-only-objective-truth-that-photograph_2926454.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/allan-sekula-48287_assertion_the-only-objective-truth-that-photograph_2926454.jpg) > “The only objective truth that photographs offer is the assertion that somebody or something... was somewhere and took a picture.” [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Photographs claim to capture reality, but they only record a moment from a specific viewpoint, not absolute truth. **In simple terms:** Photos are limited snapshots. Key Takeaway Question visual evidence. Themes truth perception media Mood analytical critical Type philosophical inquisitive When to use this quote - journalism - historical documentation - art criticism Key Concepts epistemology visual culture Questions to Reflect On - How do you assess the reliability of an image? - What context is needed to understand a photo? A Different Perspective Interpretation varies; bias influences framing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Objective truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objective-truth/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [Photographs offer more than decisive moments. They are not alone, they add and subtract and change with time. They are metaphors for our lives...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmundo-desnoes/photographs-offer-more-than-decisive-moments-they-are-not-alone-they/) [Edmundo Desnoes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmundo-desnoes/) > [Because we see reality in different ways, we must understand that we are looking at different truths rather than the truth and that, therefore,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/because-we-see-reality-in-different-ways-we-must-understand-that-we/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [“The truth was that her photographs were an extension of who she was, what she thought, how she felt. It took perfect concentration to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-hannah/the-truth-was-that-her-photographs-were-an-extension-of-who-she-was/) [Kristin Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-hannah/) > [I have always tried to keep truth in my photographs. My work, whether realistic or abstract, has always dealt with a form of religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-eugene-meatyard/i-have-always-tried-to-keep-truth-in-my-photographs-my-work-whether/) [Ralph Eugene Meatyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-eugene-meatyard/) > [~another sleepless night.. took this picture at 4 a.m. in the morning:/](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/she-s-gone/another-sleepless-night-took-this-picture-at-4-a-m-in-the-morning/) She's\_gone > [My mother took my picture to a model agency and the rest is history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-everhart/my-mother-took-my-picture-to-a-model-agency-and-the-rest-is-history/) [Angie Everhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-everhart/) > [I'm boreddd! So I guess took a picture of myself :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-boreddd-so-i-guess-took-a-picture-of-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All the writers on our show went in and got in the bed and took a picture in Cher's bed, even though she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-mullally/all-the-writers-on-our-show-went-in-and-got-in-the-bed-and-took-a/) [Megan Mullally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-mullally/) > [I met your baby moms last night. We took a picture together I hope she frames it! And I was drinking at the Palms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/i-met-your-baby-moms-last-night-we-took-a-picture-together-i-hope-she/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [I'm just disappointed the folks never took a picture of me when I was five years old jumping off the barn into a haystack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-funk/i-m-just-disappointed-the-folks-never-took-a-picture-of-me-when-i-was/) [Wally Funk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-funk/) > [Your mama so fat, I took a picture with her last christmas and it's still printing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-mama-so-fat-i-took-a-picture-with-her-last-christmas-and-it-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The cash was comin fast, money grew like grass. People hungry for the blast that don't even last. Didn't want to be involved but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kool-g-rap/the-cash-was-comin-fast-money-grew-like-grass-people-hungry-for-the/) [Kool G Rap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kool-g-rap/) > [The bloke didnt even notice it took the picture ahaha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-marie/the-bloke-didnt-even-notice-it-took-the-picture-ahaha/) Taylor Marie > [I just took a picture of my feet then side my best friend and me why because it will never stop kick someones ass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrcountry/i-just-took-a-picture-of-my-feet-then-side-my-best-friend-and-me-why/) MrCountry > [My wife Ann and I had been digging during the day, transplanting lilies from the front of this abandoned farmhouse back down the road…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-towell/my-wife-ann-and-i-had-been-digging-during-the-day-transplanting/) [Larry Towell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-towell/) ## More by Allan Sekula > [How does photography serve to legitimate and normalize existing power relationships? ... How is historical and social memory preserved, transformed, restricted and obliterated by photographs?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/how-does-photography-serve-to-legitimate-and-normalize-existing-power/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [Photography promises an enhanced mastery of nature, but photography also threatens conflagration and anarchy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/photography-promises-an-enhanced-mastery-of-nature-but-photography/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [Black-and-white photos tell the truth. That's why insurance companies use them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/black-and-white-photos-tell-the-truth-that-s-why-insurance-companies/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [Documentary photography has amassed mountains of evidence. And yet... the genre has simultaneously contributed much to spectacle, to retinal excitation, to voyeurism, to terror,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/documentary-photography-has-amassed-mountains-of-evidence-and-yet-the/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [The making of a human likeness on film is a political act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-making-of-a-human-likeness-on-film-is-a-political-act/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [Documentary is thought to be art when it transcends its reference to the world, when the work can be regarded, first and foremost, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/documentary-is-thought-to-be-art-when-it-transcends-its-reference-to/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [The photograph is an incomplete utterance, a message that depends on some external matrix of conditions and presuppositions for its readability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utterance-a-message-that-depends-on/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) [Explore all 8 Allan Sekula quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) ## More Assertion quotes > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [Metaphysical assertions, however, are statements of the psyche, and are therefore psychological. Whenever the Westerner hears the word “psychological,” it always sounds to him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/metaphysical-assertions-however-are-statements-of-the-psyche-and-are/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [At length weariness succeeds to labor, and the mind lies at ease in the contemplation of her own attainments without any desire of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/at-length-weariness-succeeds-to-labor-and-the-mind-lies-at-ease-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [When on a Sunday morning we hear the old bells ring out, we ask ourselves, "Is it possible! This is done on account of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-on-a-sunday-morning-we-hear-the-old-bells-ring-out-we-ask/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Knowledge as a past fact, as something dead and done with—knowledge by the time it gets into encyclopaedias and text-books—does consist of assertion, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-g-collingwood/knowledge-as-a-past-fact-as-something-dead-and-done-with-knowledge-by/) [R. G. Collingwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-g-collingwood/) > [What causes adolescents to rebel is not the assertion of authority but the arbitrary use of power, with little explanation of the rules and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-steinberg/what-causes-adolescents-to-rebel-is-not-the-assertion-of-authority/) [Laurence Steinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-steinberg/) > [Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has sanctioned the conception that the earth remains at rest in the middle of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/those-who-know-that-the-consensus-of-many-centuries-has-sanctioned/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [Upon the profound discontent of the young in every country do I set my faith. I beg you, the young, to be discontented. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/upon-the-profound-discontent-of-the-young-in-every-country-do-i-set/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Within certain limits terminology is always arbitrary. But the definition of being-true as unveiling, making manifest, is not an arbitrary, private invention of mine;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-heidegger/within-certain-limits-terminology-is-always-arbitrary-but-the/) [Martin Heidegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-heidegger/) > [There is in St. Paul's definite, soul-stirring assertion of the wrath of God and the reality of the judgment at hand, a truth more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-allen/there-is-in-st-paul-s-definite-soul-stirring-assertion-of-the-wrath/) [Roland Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-allen/) > [The Japanese see self-assertion as immoral and self- sacrifice as the sensible course to take in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akira-kurosawa/the-japanese-see-self-assertion-as-immoral-and-self-sacrifice-as-the/) [Akira Kurosawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akira-kurosawa/) > [But innovation is more than a new method. It is a new view of the universe, as one of risk rather than of chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/but-innovation-is-more-than-a-new-method-it-is-a-new-view-of-the/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [What I need to write is a complicated equation. Maybe if I knew I'd be one of those writers, one of the steady ones.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-keck/what-i-need-to-write-is-a-complicated-equation-maybe-if-i-knew-i-d-be/) [Kevin Keck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-keck/) > [There needs to be a public dawning - and it is beginning to dawn on some members of the public - that how science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-d-holt-jr/there-needs-to-be-a-public-dawning-and-it-is-beginning-to-dawn-on/) [Rush D. Holt, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-d-holt-jr/) > [So long as Muslims continue looking towards Western civilization as the only force that could regenerate their own stagnant society, they destroy their self-confidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-asad/so-long-as-muslims-continue-looking-towards-western-civilization-as/) [Muhammad Asad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-asad/) Browse all 279 Assertion quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The only objective truth that photographs offer is the assertion that somebody or something... was somewhere and took a picture.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Allan Sekula" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-only-objective-truth-that-photographs-offer-is-the-assertion-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Assertion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-only-objective-truth-that-photographs-offer-is-the-assertion-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/allan-sekula-48287_assertion_the-only-objective-truth-that-photograph_2926454.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/allan-sekula-48287_assertion_the-only-objective-truth-that-photograph_2926454.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/835/allan-sekula-48287_assertion_the-only-objective-truth-that-photograph_2926454.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The only objective truth that photographs offer is the assertion that somebody or something... was somewhere…” — Allan Sekula", "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": "Allan Sekula", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The only objective truth that photographs...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-only-objective-truth-that-photographs-offer-is-the-assertion-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-only-objective-truth-that-photographs-offer-is-the-assertion-that/#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 } } ] } ```