--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's this idea that photography is a…" description: "\"There's this idea that photography is a kind of testimony and therefore we're forbidden to tell lies with it. I think that's nonsense. Photography isn'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/frank-horvat-60925_forbidden_there-s-this-idea-that-photography-is-a_290078.jpg" --- # There's this idea that photography is a kind of testimony… ![“There's this idea that photography is a kind of testimony and therefore we're forbidden to tell lies with it. I think that's nonsense. Photography isn't testimony.” quote by Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/frank-horvat-60925_forbidden_there-s-this-idea-that-photography-is-a_290078.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/frank-horvat-60925_forbidden_there-s-this-idea-that-photography-is-a_290078.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/frank-horvat-60925_forbidden_there-s-this-idea-that-photography-is-a_290078.jpg) > “There's this idea that photography is a kind of testimony and therefore we're forbidden to tell lies with it. I think that's nonsense. Photography isn't testimony.” [Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker rejects the idea that photos are factual testimony, arguing they are subjective and not bound to truth. **In simple terms:** Photos are artistic, not factual. Key Takeaway Question photographic truth. Themes photography truth subjectivity Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - journalism - artistic expression - social media Key Concepts visual representation media criticism Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance art and documentation? - When is photographic truth essential? A Different Perspective Some contexts demand factual accuracy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Testimony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/testimony/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Photography is a kind of overstatement, a heroic copulation with the material world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photography-is-a-kind-of-overstatement-a-heroic-copulation-with-the/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [For example, Michael Mann's film Collateral - there is certain kinds of stories that lend themselves to digital photography. 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It's for capturing raw emotions in the eyes of the beautiful people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-rowe/photography-isn-t-for-people-to-take-pictures-of-beautiful-people-or/) [Jillian Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-rowe/) > [“There are too many images, too many cameras now. We’re all being watched. It gets sillier and sillier. As if all action is meaningful.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frank/there-are-too-many-images-too-many-cameras-now-we-re-all-being/) [Robert Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frank/) > [I don't want to knock photography, and I don't feel that film is up there but photography isn't. I think they're next to each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-corbijn/i-don-t-want-to-knock-photography-and-i-don-t-feel-that-film-is-up/) [Anton Corbijn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-corbijn/) > [But sports photography isn't something you just pick up overnight. 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I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ivory/i-m-a-great-looker-at-pictures-and-paintings-and-so-forth-that-s-what/) [James Ivory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ivory/) > [Better is to speak unpleasant truth than to tell lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/better-is-to-speak-unpleasant-truth-than-to-tell-lies/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [I never knew a man could tell so many lies, he had a different story for every set of eyes. How can he remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-young/i-never-knew-a-man-could-tell-so-many-lies-he-had-a-different-story/) [Neil Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-young/) > [I don't tell lies. I don't need to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-froch/i-don-t-tell-lies-i-don-t-need-to/) [Carl Froch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-froch/) > [Some people are under the impression that all that is required to make a good fisherman is the ability to tell lies easily and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/some-people-are-under-the-impression-that-all-that-is-required-to/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) ## More by Frank Horvat > [...photography is made essentially of time. I often think that what we show is a point in time, more than a window onto space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/photography-is-made-essentially-of-time-i-often-think-that-what-we/) [Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) > [To me, photography is not just a visual art, but something closer to poetry - or at least to some poetry, such as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/to-me-photography-is-not-just-a-visual-art-but-something-closer-to/) [Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) > [By trying many different approaches, you may slowly reach the point where you say more about yourself than about the objects or the landscapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/by-trying-many-different-approaches-you-may-slowly-reach-the-point/) [Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) > [Photography is the art of not pushing the button.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-the-button/) [Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) [Explore all 5 Frank Horvat quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) ## More Forbidden quotes > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Church is the house of God. 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