--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Photography was not invented to serve a…" description: "\"Photography was not invented to serve a clearly understood function. There was in fact widespread uncertainty, even among its inventors, as to what it ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/john-szarkowski-20414_be-good_photography-was-not-invented-to-serve-a_2282064.jpg" --- # Photography was not invented to serve a clearly understood… ![“Photography was not invented to serve a clearly understood function. There was in fact widespread uncertainty, even among its inventors, as to what it might be good for.” quote by John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/john-szarkowski-20414_be-good_photography-was-not-invented-to-serve-a_2282064.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/john-szarkowski-20414_be-good_photography-was-not-invented-to-serve-a_2282064.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/john-szarkowski-20414_be-good_photography-was-not-invented-to-serve-a_2282064.jpg) > “Photography was not invented to serve a clearly understood function. There was in fact widespread uncertainty, even among its inventors, as to what it might be good for.” [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Photography began without a clear purpose, reflecting uncertainty among its creators. **In simple terms:** Early photography lacked a defined function. Key Takeaway Explore photography beyond practical uses. Themes photography uncertainty creativity Mood curious inquisitive Type analytical historical When to use this quote - art education - creative projects - historical research Key Concepts art history technology evolution purpose theory Questions to Reflect On - How do you define the purpose of your photos? - Can uncertainty foster innovation? A Different Perspective Purpose may still be ambiguous for modern photographers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Inventor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventor/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Uncertainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertainty/) ## Related quotes > [When photography was invented, people had to make room in their minds for the idea that the dead would always be visible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-goldberg/when-photography-was-invented-people-had-to-make-room-in-their-minds/) Vicki Goldberg > [During my performances, I don't like folks to take pictures because I feel that we live in a very photographic time. Photography was invented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xaviera-simmons/during-my-performances-i-don-t-like-folks-to-take-pictures-because-i/) [Xaviera Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xaviera-simmons/) > [Photography has not invented anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-chevrier/photography-has-not-invented-anything/) [Jean-Francois Chevrier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-chevrier/) > [Considering that knowledge of the chemical as well as the optical principles of photography was fairly widespread following Schulze's experiment (in 1725)... the circumstance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-gernsheim/considering-that-knowledge-of-the-chemical-as-well-as-the-optical/) [Helmut Gernsheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-gernsheim/) > [Photography could have been invented in color. Colors existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-luc-godard/photography-could-have-been-invented-in-color-colors-existed/) [Jean-Luc Godard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-luc-godard/) > [When photography was invented, it was thought to be an equivalent to truth. It was truth with a capital T.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-goldberg/when-photography-was-invented-it-was-thought-to-be-an-equivalent-to/) Vicki Goldberg > [There are many points in the history of an invention which the inventor himself is apt to overlook as trifling, but in which posterity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brewster/there-are-many-points-in-the-history-of-an-invention-which-the/) [David Brewster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brewster/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. 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Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) ## More by John Szarkowski > [To quote out of context is the essence of the photographer's craft.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/to-quote-out-of-context-is-the-essence-of-the-photographer-s-craft/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [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/) > [Whatever else a photograph may be about, it is inevitably about photography, the container and vehicle of all its meanings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/whatever-else-a-photograph-may-be-about-it-is-inevitably-about/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [Photography's central sense of purpose and aesthetic: the precise and lucid description of significant fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/photography-s-central-sense-of-purpose-and-aesthetic-the-precise-and/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [The central act of photography, the act of choosing and eliminating, forces a concentration on the picture edge - the line that separates in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/the-central-act-of-photography-the-act-of-choosing-and-eliminating/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [One of the leading uses of photography by the mass media came to be called photojournalism. From the late 'twenties' to the early 'fifties'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/one-of-the-leading-uses-of-photography-by-the-mass-media-came-to-be/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [It isn't what a picture is of, it is what it is about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/it-isn-t-what-a-picture-is-of-it-is-what-it-is-about/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [Photography is choosing where to point your eye-cone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/photography-is-choosing-where-to-point-your-eye-cone/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [The photographer’s vision convinces us to the degree that the photographer hides his hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/the-photographer-s-vision-convinces-us-to-the-degree-that-the/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [In practice a photographer does not concern himself with philosophical issues while working; he makes photographs, working with subject matter that he thinks will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/in-practice-a-photographer-does-not-concern-himself-with/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [ Trained as a musician, \[photographer Ansel\] Adams understood the richness of variation that could be unfolded from a simple theme. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/trained-as-a-musician-photographer-ansel-adams-understood-the/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [Pure photography is a system of picture-making that describes more or less faithfully what might be seen through a rectangular frame from a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/pure-photography-is-a-system-of-picture-making-that-describes-more-or/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [A photographer's best work is, alas, generally done for himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/a-photographer-s-best-work-is-alas-generally-done-for-himself/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [The invention of photography provided a radically new picture-making process - a process based not on synthesis but on selection. The difference was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/the-invention-of-photography-provided-a-radically-new-picture-making/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) > [“There is a terrible truthfulness about photography. The ordinary academician gets hold of a pretty model, paints her as well as he can, calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-szarkowski/there-is-a-terrible-truthfulness-about-photography-the-ordinary/) [John Szarkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) [Explore all 31 John Szarkowski quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-szarkowski/) ## More Be good quotes > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. 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I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-garner/to-become-a-classical-ballerina-you-have-to-move-to-new-york-when-you/) [Jennifer Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-garner/) > [The producers felt that 24 would be good for the audience, to really get to know who these 12 and 12 are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-abdul/the-producers-felt-that-24-would-be-good-for-the-audience-to-really/) [Paula Abdul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-abdul/) > [All will concede that in order to have good neighbors, we must also be good neighbors. That applies in every field of human endeavor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/all-will-concede-that-in-order-to-have-good-neighbors-we-must-also-be/) [Harry S. 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