--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I suppose the primary intention of a…" description: "\"I suppose the primary intention of a documentary photographer is to document facts. My work often does this but it is not the primary intention. My int..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/richard-billingham-75088_documentaries_i-suppose-the-primary-intention-of-a-doc_1241685.jpg" --- # I suppose the primary intention of a documentary… ![“I suppose the primary intention of a documentary photographer is to document facts. My work often does this but it is not the primary intention. My intention is to make the best pictorial image I can.” quote by Richard Billingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/richard-billingham-75088_documentaries_i-suppose-the-primary-intention-of-a-doc_1241685.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/richard-billingham-75088_documentaries_i-suppose-the-primary-intention-of-a-doc_1241685.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/richard-billingham-75088_documentaries_i-suppose-the-primary-intention-of-a-doc_1241685.jpg) > “I suppose the primary intention of a documentary photographer is to document facts. My work often does this but it is not the primary intention. My intention is to make the best pictorial image I can.” Richard Billingham ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Documentary photography should capture truth, but artistic vision can transcend mere facts. **In simple terms:** Photos can be both factual and artistic. Key Takeaway Balance documentation with creative expression. Themes art photography truth Mood reflective creative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - journalism - fine art - personal projects Key Concepts aesthetics visual storytelling Questions to Reflect On - How do you prioritize truth vs. beauty? - When does artistry enhance truth? A Different Perspective Pure documentation may lack emotional impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Documentaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentaries/) [Documentary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentary/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Intention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intention/) [Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographer/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [I've been a documentary photographer for much longer than I have been a filmmaker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-greenfield/i-ve-been-a-documentary-photographer-for-much-longer-than-i-have-been/) [Lauren Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-greenfield/) > [I'm a documentary photographer. That's what I've always wanted to be; that's where my heart and soul is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ellen-mark/i-m-a-documentary-photographer-that-s-what-i-ve-always-wanted-to-be/) [Mary Ellen Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ellen-mark/) > [In a way my work is documentary. But I am also a photographer who has a distinct style. My photographs are a companion to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graciela-iturbide/in-a-way-my-work-is-documentary-but-i-am-also-a-photographer-who-has/) [Graciela Iturbide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graciela-iturbide/) > [The reason I call myself a documentary photographer is the idea of how photographs contain and participate in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-opie/the-reason-i-call-myself-a-documentary-photographer-is-the-idea-of/) [Catherine Opie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-opie/) > [...I don't see myself as a documentary photographer. I am more drawn to the image itself, rather than to the description of a scene.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beat-streuli/i-don-t-see-myself-as-a-documentary-photographer-i-am-more-drawn-to/) Beat Streuli > [Feeling good is the primary intention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/feeling-good-is-the-primary-intention/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [My primary intention is to put myself in characters that would take me to new places and keep myself satisfied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arjun-mathur/my-primary-intention-is-to-put-myself-in-characters-that-would-take/) [Arjun Mathur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arjun-mathur/) > [I'm sometimes called a 'documentary photographer' but... a man operating under that definition could take a sly pleasure in the disguise. Very often I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/i-m-sometimes-called-a-documentary-photographer-but-a-man-operating/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [I'm kind of a twisted social documentary photographer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-opie/i-m-kind-of-a-twisted-social-documentary-photographer/) [Catherine Opie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-opie/) > [The documentary photographer aims his camera at the real world to record truthfulness. At the same time, he must strive for form, to devise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-strand/the-documentary-photographer-aims-his-camera-at-the-real-world-to/) [Paul Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-strand/) > [Appalling numbers of youth have been led into a cynical ultra-sophisticated attitude which regards drinking as a badge of social aptitude, which makes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-parker-yockey/appalling-numbers-of-youth-have-been-led-into-a-cynical-ultra/) [Francis Parker Yockey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-parker-yockey/) > [Everyone will be compelled to see that which is optically true, is explicable in its own terms, is objective, before he can arrive at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laszlo-moholy-nagy/everyone-will-be-compelled-to-see-that-which-is-optically-true-is/) [Laszlo Moholy-Nagy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laszlo-moholy-nagy/) > [ \[Dada is\] 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 > [The focus in the Western pictorial tradition is on the body of Christ, the bit you can paint, the Nativity and the infancy, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/the-focus-in-the-western-pictorial-tradition-is-on-the-body-of-christ/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [I want to make exalted art. A successful image has pictorial lift. I am looking for whatever is up there](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-stella/i-want-to-make-exalted-art-a-successful-image-has-pictorial-lift-i-am/) [Frank Stella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-stella/) ## More by Richard Billingham > [I paint a little and keep sketchbooks because it has the effect of preventing me becoming lazy about looking. The subject could be anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-billingham/i-paint-a-little-and-keep-sketchbooks-because-it-has-the-effect-of/) Richard Billingham > [It's not my intention to shock, to offend, sensationalise, be political or whatever; only to make work that is as spiritually meaningful as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-billingham/it-s-not-my-intention-to-shock-to-offend-sensationalise-be-political/) Richard Billingham Explore all 3 Richard Billingham quotes ## More Documentaries quotes > [I like the cinema of people like Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton. I am not keen on trying to reproduce reality - for that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-pierre-jeunet/i-like-the-cinema-of-people-like-terry-gilliam-and-tim-burton-i-am/) [Jean-Pierre Jeunet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-pierre-jeunet/) > [Many people, including myself, thought of Jobs as an inventor, an Edison-like figure, but he wasn't. I did a documentary on James Brown recently;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-gibney/many-people-including-myself-thought-of-jobs-as-an-inventor-an-edison/) [Alex Gibney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-gibney/) > [The documentary style is an incredibly flexible and useful one. It's a wonderful tool for establishing the credibility of the version of things that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gohlke/the-documentary-style-is-an-incredibly-flexible-and-useful-one-it-s-a/) [Frank Gohlke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gohlke/) > [Most of the photographs people take with their cameraphones are of little value in terms of documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/most-of-the-photographs-people-take-with-their-cameraphones-are-of/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [...it is a very risky thing for anyone to go about proclaiming the truth simply because he finds himself in possession of concrete documentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-amado/it-is-a-very-risky-thing-for-anyone-to-go-about-proclaiming-the-truth/) [Jorge Amado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-amado/) > [Most of my life, I thought that I would end up a novelist. But then, in New York City, after college, I started a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-spaihts/most-of-my-life-i-thought-that-i-would-end-up-a-novelist-but-then-in/) [Jon Spaihts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-spaihts/) > [By calling it a memoir, I meant is as a collection of memories. I thought it was (a more) artful (title) than documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-merchant/by-calling-it-a-memoir-i-meant-is-as-a-collection-of-memories-i/) [Natalie Merchant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-merchant/) > [I'm a documentary photographer. That's what I've always wanted to be; that's where my heart and soul is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ellen-mark/i-m-a-documentary-photographer-that-s-what-i-ve-always-wanted-to-be/) [Mary Ellen Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ellen-mark/) > [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [I'm in school every day. It depends on what it is that you do with all that free time when I'm not on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mc-lyte/i-m-in-school-every-day-it-depends-on-what-it-is-that-you-do-with-all/) [MC Lyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mc-lyte/) > [If you merely focus on what we already know, then it's not revelatory. You may as well just go and watch a documentary or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oyelowo/if-you-merely-focus-on-what-we-already-know-then-it-s-not-revelatory/) [David Oyelowo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oyelowo/) > [So I do tend to do documentaries where I can move in and out of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-apted/so-i-do-tend-to-do-documentaries-where-i-can-move-in-and-out-of-them/) [Michael Apted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-apted/) > [Helen Weaver’s book was a revelation to me! Although I was a young woman in the fifties, I was there, but I wasn’t there!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-cassady/helen-weaver-s-book-was-a-revelation-to-me-although-i-was-a-young/) Carolyn Cassady > [There's a tradition of reenactment in documentary which is about sort of illustrating what the past might have been like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-oppenheimer/there-s-a-tradition-of-reenactment-in-documentary-which-is-about-sort/) [Joshua Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-oppenheimer/) > [I've had frustrated storytelling juices that have been lying dormant for a long time, and I guess the documentary was a way of me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bana/i-ve-had-frustrated-storytelling-juices-that-have-been-lying-dormant/) [Eric Bana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bana/) [Browse all 718 Documentaries quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentaries/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I suppose the primary intention of a documentary photographer is to document facts. 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