--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are so many great 19th-century…" description: "\"There are so many great 19th-century photographers, and it's really my favorite period, but the amateurs did such beautiful work.\" — Patti Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/patti-smith-394_19th-century_there-are-so-many-great-19th-century-pho_997436.jpg" --- # There are so many great 19th-century photographers, and… ![“There are so many great 19th-century photographers, and it's really my favorite period, but the amateurs did such beautiful work.” quote by Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/patti-smith-394_19th-century_there-are-so-many-great-19th-century-pho_997436.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/patti-smith-394_19th-century_there-are-so-many-great-19th-century-pho_997436.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/patti-smith-394_19th-century_there-are-so-many-great-19th-century-pho_997436.jpg) > “There are so many great 19th-century photographers, and it's really my favorite period, but the amateurs did such beautiful work.” [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Amateur photographers of the 19th century produced work as beautiful as professionals. **In simple terms:** Old‑time amateurs made stunning photos. Key Takeaway Value and study historic amateur photography. Themes art history photography amateurism inspiration Mood reflective appreciative Type historical inspirational When to use this quote - museum curation - photography workshops - historical research - collecting prints Key Concepts aesthetic value cultural context technical limits Questions to Reflect On - Why are amateurs overlooked? - What can modern creators learn? A Different Perspective Amateur work may be less documented. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographer/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [My favorite period is when we lived in the land of the three-minute song. The Motown thing - I thought they were genius in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/my-favorite-period-is-when-we-lived-in-the-land-of-the-three-minute/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [I love that period, between the '20s and the '60s. I love doing period pieces, and those eras are my favorite period in time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laz-alonso/i-love-that-period-between-the-20s-and-the-60s-i-love-doing-period/) [Laz Alonso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laz-alonso/) > [No matter what else is going on, Christmas is my all-time favorite period in the year. It has a positive effect on me like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/no-matter-what-else-is-going-on-christmas-is-my-all-time-favorite/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [My favorite period is World War II, and I'm in the middle of writing my fourth novel set in that era.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-follett/my-favorite-period-is-world-war-ii-and-i-m-in-the-middle-of-writing/) [Ken Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-follett/) > [The only thing we photographers really want more than life, more than sex, more than anything, is to be invisible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jones-griffiths/the-only-thing-we-photographers-really-want-more-than-life-more-than/) [Philip Jones Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jones-griffiths/) > [I can't tell you how many reshoots I've done from, you know, famous photographers who really love just to shoot models and failed at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-friedman/i-can-t-tell-you-how-many-reshoots-i-ve-done-from-you-know-famous/) [Carol Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-friedman/) > [Those who want to be serious photographers, you're really going to have to edit your work. You're going to have to understand what you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-leibovitz/those-who-want-to-be-serious-photographers-you-re-really-going-to/) [Annie Leibovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-leibovitz/) > [Being a celebrity, you always get really good seats to sporting events, but you never get as good seats as the photographers get. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-carey/being-a-celebrity-you-always-get-really-good-seats-to-sporting-events-2/) [Drew Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-carey/) > [Being a celebrity you always get really good seats to sporting events but you never get as good seats as the photographers get. 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(at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/like-the-railroads-that-brought-us-together-in-the-19th-century-these/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Then years back, when I moved to California, I happened to see a book about fashions of 19th-century Victorian England, only four pages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-years-back-when-i-moved-to-california-i-happened-to-see-a-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Washington was no politician as we understand the word," replied Ratcliffe abruptly. "He stood outside of politics. The thing couldn't be done today. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/washington-was-no-politician-as-we-understand-the-word-replied/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Nineteenth-century English literature I know; 19th-century sewage systems, not so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/nineteenth-century-english-literature-i-know-19th-century-sewage/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [Though my grandmother had picked up modern ideas in America, she still had some conflicting 19th-century Irish notions. She believed that daughters, educated though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-mahoney/though-my-grandmother-had-picked-up-modern-ideas-in-america-she-still/) [Rosemary Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-mahoney/) ## More by Patti Smith > [I had a really happy childhood - my siblings were great, my mother was very fanciful, and I loved to read. But there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-had-a-really-happy-childhood-my-siblings-were-great-my-mother-was/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [As a citizen, hopefully I'm humanist. As an artist, I'm free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/as-a-citizen-hopefully-i-m-humanist-as-an-artist-i-m-free/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [ Sometimes \[people\] seem to think I came out of the womb, you know, cursing, with an electric guitar. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/sometimes-people-seem-to-think-i-came-out-of-the-womb-you-know/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [“Inside it he inscribed a few lines of poetry, portraying us as the gypsy and the fool, one creating silence; one listening closely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/inside-it-he-inscribed-a-few-lines-of-poetry-portraying-us-as-the/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [Who can know the heart of youth but youth itself?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/who-can-know-the-heart-of-youth-but-youth-itself/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [“I clawed through a thick web of the culture’s consciousness that I hadn’t known existed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-clawed-through-a-thick-web-of-the-culture-s-consciousness-that-i/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [Ultimately, we are not seeking others to bow to, but to reinforce our individual natures, to help us suffer our own choices, to guide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/ultimately-we-are-not-seeking-others-to-bow-to-but-to-reinforce-our/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [If I'm taking a picture of Brancusi's grave, I know that there's something of him, of his mortal remains, beneath my feet, and there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/if-i-m-taking-a-picture-of-brancusi-s-grave-i-know-that-there-s/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [I'm certain, as we filled down the great staircase, that I appeared the same as ever, a moping twelve years-old, all arms and legs.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-m-certain-as-we-filled-down-the-great-staircase-that-i-appeared-the/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [In art and dream may you proceed with abandon. In life may you proceed with balance and stealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/in-art-and-dream-may-you-proceed-with-abandon-in-life-may-you-proceed/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [New York is the thing that seduced me. New York is the thing that formed me. New York is the thing that deformed me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/new-york-is-the-thing-that-seduced-me-new-york-is-the-thing-that/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [I don't wanna be equal with anybody. I wanna be above equal. I don't think most people are equal to me. I'd like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-don-t-wanna-be-equal-with-anybody-i-wanna-be-above-equal-i-don-t/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [I think I'm constantly in a state of adjustment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-think-i-m-constantly-in-a-state-of-adjustment/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [Somehow I started introducing writing into my drawings, and after a time, the language took over and I started getting very involved with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/somehow-i-started-introducing-writing-into-my-drawings-and-after-a/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [I'm okay with roaming around the world in my bunk for days on end. Maybe every third day I'll get a shower or stumble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-m-okay-with-roaming-around-the-world-in-my-bunk-for-days-on-end/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) [Explore all 595 Patti Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) ## More 19th century quotes > [Though my grandmother had picked up modern ideas in America, she still had some conflicting 19th-century Irish notions. She believed that daughters, educated though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-mahoney/though-my-grandmother-had-picked-up-modern-ideas-in-america-she-still/) [Rosemary Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-mahoney/) > [Nineteenth-century English literature I know; 19th-century sewage systems, not so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/nineteenth-century-english-literature-i-know-19th-century-sewage/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“Washington was no politician as we understand the word," replied Ratcliffe abruptly. "He stood outside of politics. The thing couldn't be done today. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/washington-was-no-politician-as-we-understand-the-word-replied/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Then years back, when I moved to California, I happened to see a book about fashions of 19th-century Victorian England, only four pages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-years-back-when-i-moved-to-california-i-happened-to-see-a-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Like the railroads that brought us together in the 19th century, these trails will bring us together in the 20th and 21st centuries. (at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/like-the-railroads-that-brought-us-together-in-the-19th-century-these/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [By tracing the careers of the four members of the Philosophical Breakfast Club, Laura Snyder has found a wonderful way not just to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-standage/by-tracing-the-careers-of-the-four-members-of-the-philosophical/) [Tom Standage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-standage/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [ . . . Luddites were those frenzied traditionalists of the early 19th century who toured \[England\] wrecking new weaving machines on the theory that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/luddites-were-those-frenzied-traditionalists-of-the-early-19th/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [“The Victorian era was an age of superlatives and larger-than-life characters, and as far as that goes, Dr. Wildman Whitehouse fit right in: what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/the-victorian-era-was-an-age-of-superlatives-and-larger-than-life/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [Take any writer you want in the 19th century: they wrote with quill pens, dipping a piece of goose feather in ink and writing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-murch/take-any-writer-you-want-in-the-19th-century-they-wrote-with-quill/) [Walter Murch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-murch/) > [There are real issues that the president Donald Trump and particularly Steve Bannon, his political adviser, are pushing. It's a vision, a rather dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franklin-jeffrey/there-are-real-issues-that-the-president-donald-trump-and/) [James Franklin Jeffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franklin-jeffrey/) > [While every historical era has its unique appeal as a setting for tales of crime and detection, the 19th century is exceptional - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-weinman/while-every-historical-era-has-its-unique-appeal-as-a-setting-for/) [Sarah Weinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-weinman/) > [Adolescence was invented in the 19th century to enable middle-class families to keep their children out of sweatshops. But it has degenerated into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/adolescence-was-invented-in-the-19th-century-to-enable-middle-class/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [An ethic of maternalism was central to the utopianism of 19th century feminists. I don't think that today's women see motherhood as a source…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-wright/an-ethic-of-maternalism-was-central-to-the-utopianism-of-19th-century/) Clare Wright Browse all 383 19th century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are so many great 19th-century photographers, and it's really my favorite period, but the amateurs did such beautiful work.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Patti Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/there-are-so-many-great-19th-century-photographers-and-it-s-really-my/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "19th century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/there-are-so-many-great-19th-century-photographers-and-it-s-really-my/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/patti-smith-394_19th-century_there-are-so-many-great-19th-century-pho_997436.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/patti-smith-394_19th-century_there-are-so-many-great-19th-century-pho_997436.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/287/patti-smith-394_19th-century_there-are-so-many-great-19th-century-pho_997436.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are so many great 19th-century photographers, and it's really my favorite period, but the amateurs did…” — Patti Smith", "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": "Patti Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There are so many great 19th-century...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/there-are-so-many-great-19th-century-photographers-and-it-s-really-my/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/there-are-so-many-great-19th-century-photographers-and-it-s-really-my/#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 } } ] } ```