--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Photography has freed the plastic arts…" description: "\"Photography has freed the plastic arts from their obsession with likeness.\" — Andre Bazin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf4/andre-bazin-36481_art_photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-f_2138737.png" --- # Photography has freed the plastic arts from their… ![“Photography has freed the plastic arts from their obsession with likeness.” quote by Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf4/andre-bazin-36481_art_photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-f_2138737.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf4/andre-bazin-36481_art_photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-f_2138737.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf4/andre-bazin-36481_art_photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-f_2138737.png) > “Photography has freed the plastic arts from their obsession with likeness.” [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Photography expands visual art beyond realistic representation, allowing abstraction and conceptual expression. **In simple terms:** Photography lets art move beyond realistic likeness. Key Takeaway Embrace abstraction in visual creation. Themes artistic freedom visual media abstraction Mood reflective inspired Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - gallery exhibitions - digital media - marketing campaigns Key Concepts cinema theory visual perception Questions to Reflect On - How does abstraction change viewer engagement? - When is realism more effective? A Different Perspective Abstraction may alienate audiences expecting realism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Freed Plastic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freed-plastic-4443581/) [Likeness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/likeness/) [Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession/) [Obsession Likeness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession-likeness-4443582/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Photography Freed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography-freed-3689407/) [Plastic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plastic/) [Plastic Arts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plastic-arts-1542667/) ## Related quotes > [Photography freed painting from a lot of tiresome chores, starting with family portraits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-auguste-renoir/photography-freed-painting-from-a-lot-of-tiresome-chores-starting/) [Pierre-Auguste Renoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-auguste-renoir/) > [Now that photography is a digital medium, the ghost of painting is coming to haunt it: photography no longer retains a sense of truth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vik-muniz/now-that-photography-is-a-digital-medium-the-ghost-of-painting-is/) [Vik Muniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vik-muniz/) > [First of all, the art of living; then as my ideal profession, poetry and philosophy, and as my real profession, plastic arts; in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/first-of-all-the-art-of-living-then-as-my-ideal-profession-poetry-and/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [I honestly believe students of painting in the next century will laugh at the abstract art movement. They will marvel at such a drawn-out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/i-honestly-believe-students-of-painting-in-the-next-century-will/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [“The guillotine is the masterpiece of the plastic arts Its click Creates perpetual motion ("The Head")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-cendrars/the-guillotine-is-the-masterpiece-of-the-plastic-arts-its-click/) [Blaise Cendrars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-cendrars/) > [Today we can say that at last the director writes the film. The image--its plastic composition and the way it is set in time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/today-we-can-say-that-at-last-the-director-writes-the-film-the-image/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [“Deform me to your likeness so that no one, after you, can understand the reason for so much desire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maguerite-duras/deform-me-to-your-likeness-so-that-no-one-after-you-can-understand/) [Maguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maguerite-duras/) > [“He’d made love to her four times now, he realized, but this was his first chance to truly look upon her body. She was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-dare/he-d-made-love-to-her-four-times-now-he-realized-but-this-was-his/) [Tessa Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-dare/) > [Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fantasy-remains-a-human-right-we-make-in-our-measure-and-in-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Genesis’ saying that we are made in the likeness of God does not mean that God looks a little like us, with a face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-kushner/genesis-saying-that-we-are-made-in-the-likeness-of-god-does-not-mean/) [Lawrence Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-kushner/) > [“The necessary unlikeness between the creator and the created holds within it the equally necessary likeness of the thing made to him who makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/the-necessary-unlikeness-between-the-creator-and-the-created-holds/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [What we know about Cleopatra's looks is based purely on her coin portraits. Engraving was imperfect, and that when you are a ruler and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/what-we-know-about-cleopatra-s-looks-is-based-purely-on-her-coin/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Your own self, your personality and existence are reflected within the mind of each of the people whom you meet, ... into a likeness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/your-own-self-your-personality-and-existence-are-reflected-within-the/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [“The more time you spend with God, the more you will resemble Him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-george/the-more-time-you-spend-with-god-the-more-you-will-resemble-him/) [Elizabeth George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-george/) > [“A man becomes creative, whether he is an artist or a scientist, when he finds a new unity in the variety of nature. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/a-man-becomes-creative-whether-he-is-an-artist-or-a-scientist-when-he/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) ## More by Andre Bazin > [All films are born free and equal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/all-films-are-born-free-and-equal/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [Photography does not create eternity, as art does; it embalms time, rescuing it simply from its proper corruption.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/photography-does-not-create-eternity-as-art-does-it-embalms-time/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [Today we can say that at last the director writes the film. The image--its plastic composition and the way it is set in time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/today-we-can-say-that-at-last-the-director-writes-the-film-the-image/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [A very faithful drawing may actually tell us more about the model but despite the promptings of our critical intelligence it will never have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/a-very-faithful-drawing-may-actually-tell-us-more-about-the-model-but/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [How has The Grand Illusion held up over the years? It is not enough to say that it has retained its power. Not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/how-has-the-grand-illusion-held-up-over-the-years-it-is-not-enough-to/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [The 'Western' is the only genre whose origins are almost identical with those of the cinema itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-origins-are-almost-identical-with/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [The essential factor in the transition of the baroque to photography is not the perfecting of a physical process... rather does it lie in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/the-essential-factor-in-the-transition-of-the-baroque-to-photography/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [ The photographer proceeds, via the intermediary of the lens, to a point where he literally takes a luminous imprint, a cast... \[But\] the cinema… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/the-photographer-proceeds-via-the-intermediary-of-the-lens-to-a-point/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [ \[The photograph\] is the object itself... \[It\] shares, by virtue of the very process of its becoming, the being of the model of which… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/the-photograph-is-the-object-itself-it-shares-by-virtue-of-the-very/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [All the arts are based on the presence of man, only photography derives an advantage from his absence. Photography affects us like a phenomenon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/all-the-arts-are-based-on-the-presence-of-man-only-photography/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [Every image is to be seen as an object and every object as an image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/every-image-is-to-be-seen-as-an-object-and-every-object-as-an-image/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [Photography can strip from the world that spiritual dust and grime with which our eyes have covered it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/photography-can-strip-from-the-world-that-spiritual-dust-and-grime/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) [Explore all 13 Andre Bazin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Photography has freed the plastic arts from their obsession with likeness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andre Bazin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-from-their-obsession-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-from-their-obsession-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf4/andre-bazin-36481_art_photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-f_2138737.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf4/andre-bazin-36481_art_photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-f_2138737.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf4/andre-bazin-36481_art_photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-f_2138737.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Photography has freed the plastic arts from their obsession with likeness.” — Andre Bazin", "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": "Andre Bazin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Photography has freed the plastic arts...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-from-their-obsession-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-from-their-obsession-with/#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 } } ] } ```