Biographies Quote by Gertrude Kasebier
“I am now a mother and a grandmother, and I do not recall that I have ever ignored the claims of the nomadic button and the ceaseless call for sympathy, and the greatest demand on time and patience. My children and their children have been my closest thought, but from the first days of dawning individuality, I have longed unceasingly to make pictures of people... to make likenesses that are biographies, to bring out in each photograph the essential temperament that is called, soul, humanity.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Photographs of Life, Gertrude Kasebier, 1975
The speaker reflects on the deep responsibility of capturing a person's inner essence in a portrait, emphasizing empathy and the passage of time across generations.
In simple terms: Portrait photography seeks to reveal a person's soul.
Key Takeaway
Focus on empathy when photographing people.
Themes
art
empathy
legacy
family
portraiture
Mood
contemplative
reflective
Type
artistic
philosophical
When to use this quote
- family gatherings
- studio sessions
- historical archives
- personal memoirs
Key Concepts
humanism
psychology
visual storytelling
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you build trust with a subject?
- What does “soul” mean in a photograph?
A Different Perspective
The subject may resist vulnerability, limiting authentic capture.
![“I read so ravenously that I would read through whole categories. I was crazy about reading biographies. [...] I think biographies are very urgent to children.” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a53/joan-didion-497_biographies_i-read-so-ravenously-that-i-would-read-t_43631.jpg)
