--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is important is that our optical…" description: "\"What is important is that our optical awareness rids itself of classical notions of beauty and opens itself more and more to the beauty of the instant ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/raoul-hausmann-66459_art_what-is-important-is-that-our-optical-aw_2660049.jpg" --- # What is important is that our optical awareness rids… ![“What is important is that our optical awareness rids itself of classical notions of beauty and opens itself more and more to the beauty of the instant and of these surprising points of view that appear for a brief moment and never return; those are what make photography an art.” quote by Raoul Hausmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/raoul-hausmann-66459_art_what-is-important-is-that-our-optical-aw_2660049.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/raoul-hausmann-66459_art_what-is-important-is-that-our-optical-aw_2660049.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/raoul-hausmann-66459_art_what-is-important-is-that-our-optical-aw_2660049.jpg) > “What is important is that our optical awareness rids itself of classical notions of beauty and opens itself more and more to the beauty of the instant and of these surprising points of view that appear for a brief moment and never return; those are what make photography an art.” [Raoul Hausmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-hausmann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that true photographic art arises from fleeting, unexpected moments rather than classical beauty standards. **In simple terms:** Photography is art when it captures brief, surprising moments. Key Takeaway Seek and value spontaneous, unique visual experiences. Themes art photography beauty ephemerality Mood reflective inspired Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - street photography - photojournalism - creative projects Key Concepts aesthetic theory visual perception momentariness Questions to Reflect On - What moments do you consider worth capturing? - How can spontaneity enhance artistic expression? A Different Perspective Focusing only on instant beauty can neglect deeper context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awareness/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Brief moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brief-moments/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Important Optical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important-optical-2420250/) [Instant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instant/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Make Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-photography-1381865/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Notion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notion/) [Opens Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opens-beauty-2420252/) [Optical Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optical-awareness-2420251/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Photography Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography-art/) [Point of view](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point-of-view/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) [Surprising](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprising/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) ## Related quotes > [If I could find them (assemblages) in nature I would photograph them. I make them because through photography I have a knowledge of things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-sommer/if-i-could-find-them-assemblages-in-nature-i-would-photograph-them-i/) [Frederick Sommer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-sommer/) > [You see what you think, you see what you feel, you are what you see If with the camera you can make others see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-haas/you-see-what-you-think-you-see-what-you-feel-you-are-what-you-see-if/) [Ernst Haas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-haas/) > [I like there to be a joke in practically every photo I take. Nobody has the right to make photography boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-parkinson/i-like-there-to-be-a-joke-in-practically-every-photo-i-take-nobody/) [Norman Parkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-parkinson/) > [You know exactly what I think of photography. I would like to see it make people despise painting until something else will make photography…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/you-know-exactly-what-i-think-of-photography-i-would-like-to-see-it/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I was obsessed from the moment I took my first photograph. I wanted to make photography my career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-duley/i-was-obsessed-from-the-moment-i-took-my-first-photograph-i-wanted-to/) [Giles Duley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-duley/) > [Photography is the first art wherein the tool does most of the work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/photography-is-the-first-art-wherein-the-tool-does-most-of-the-work/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I've always thought photography was an art form, but it had very low appreciation in the beginning, except for some Europeans, and of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/i-ve-always-thought-photography-was-an-art-form-but-it-had-very-low/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [... photography is just a medium. It's like a typewriter. Photography as an art doesn't interest me an awful lot; as a participant, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-stoller/photography-is-just-a-medium-it-s-like-a-typewriter-photography-as-an/) [Ezra Stoller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-stoller/) > [Photography is art when it's used by an artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bernhard/photography-is-art-when-it-s-used-by-an-artist/) [Ruth Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bernhard/) > [I'd love to go off to college to study photography, art history, humanities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-wasikowska/i-d-love-to-go-off-to-college-to-study-photography-art-history/) [Mia Wasikowska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-wasikowska/) > [There are two dirty words in photography, one is art, the other is good taste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-newton/there-are-two-dirty-words-in-photography-one-is-art-the-other-is-good/) [Helmut Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-newton/) > [... the battle for the acceptance of photography as Art was not only counter-productive but counter-revolutionary. The most important photography is most emphatically not Art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-d-coleman/the-battle-for-the-acceptance-of-photography-as-art-was-not-only/) [A. D. Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-d-coleman/) > [Some people's photography is an art. Not mine. Art is a dirty word in photography. All this fine art crap is killing it already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-newton/some-people-s-photography-is-an-art-not-mine-art-is-a-dirty-word-in/) [Helmut Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-newton/) > [Some people's photography is an art. Mine is not. If they happen to be exhibited in a gallery or a museum, that's fine. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-newton/some-people-s-photography-is-an-art-mine-is-not-if-they-happen-to-be/) [Helmut Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-newton/) > [It is easy to take a photograph, but it is harder to make a masterpiece in photography than in any other art medium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/it-is-easy-to-take-a-photograph-but-it-is-harder-to-make-a/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) ## More by Raoul Hausmann > [ \[Dada is\] perfectly kindhearted malice, alongside exact photography the only legitimate pictorial form of communication and balance in shared experience. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-hausmann/dada-is-perfectly-kindhearted-malice-alongside-exact-photography-the/) [Raoul Hausmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-hausmann/) > [To be a photographer is to become aware of visible appearances and at the same time acquire from them an education in individual and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-hausmann/to-be-a-photographer-is-to-become-aware-of-visible-appearances-and-at/) [Raoul Hausmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-hausmann/) > [ We called \[the\] process photomontage, because it embodied our refusal to play the part of the artist. We regarded ourselves as engineers, and our… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-hausmann/we-called-the-process-photomontage-because-it-embodied-our-refusal-to/) [Raoul Hausmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-hausmann/) [Explore all 4 Raoul Hausmann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-hausmann/) ## 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. 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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": "What is important is that our optical awareness rids itself of classical notions of beauty and opens itself more and more to the beauty of the instant and of these surprising points of view that appear for a brief moment and never return; those are what make photography an art.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Raoul Hausmann" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-hausmann/what-is-important-is-that-our-optical-awareness-rids-itself-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-hausmann/what-is-important-is-that-our-optical-awareness-rids-itself-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/raoul-hausmann-66459_art_what-is-important-is-that-our-optical-aw_2660049.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/raoul-hausmann-66459_art_what-is-important-is-that-our-optical-aw_2660049.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/552/raoul-hausmann-66459_art_what-is-important-is-that-our-optical-aw_2660049.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What is important is that our optical awareness rids itself of classical notions of beauty and opens itself…” — Raoul Hausmann", "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": "Raoul Hausmann", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-hausmann/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What is important is that our...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-hausmann/what-is-important-is-that-our-optical-awareness-rids-itself-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-hausmann/what-is-important-is-that-our-optical-awareness-rids-itself-of/#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 } } ] } ```