--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In a foreign country it is far from easy…" description: "\"In a foreign country it is far from easy to study a scene at length when you know that at any minute someone may appear and ask what you are doing and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/robert-adams-4362_anesthesia_in-a-foreign-country-it-is-far-from-easy_2237383.png" --- # In a foreign country it is far from easy to study a scene… ![“In a foreign country it is far from easy to study a scene at length when you know that at any minute someone may appear and ask what you are doing and that you can't answer, and you haven't many references, and you don't know the law. Neither is it easy to find and know the subjects for portraits…” quote by Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/robert-adams-4362_anesthesia_in-a-foreign-country-it-is-far-from-easy_2237383.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/robert-adams-4362_anesthesia_in-a-foreign-country-it-is-far-from-easy_2237383.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/robert-adams-4362_anesthesia_in-a-foreign-country-it-is-far-from-easy_2237383.png) > “In a foreign country it is far from easy to study a scene at length when you know that at any minute someone may appear and ask what you are doing and that you can't answer, and you haven't many references, and you don't know the law. Neither is it easy to find and know the subjects for portraits or comfortable to make such picture when you cannot apply an anesthesia of small talk.” [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) ## 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 describes the difficulty of photographing in unfamiliar cultures where language barriers, legal uncertainties, and lack of references hinder the process. **In simple terms:** Photographing abroad is hard due to language, law, and cultural gaps. Key Takeaway Prepare thoroughly and build local trust before shooting. Themes photography cross‑cultural communication legal issues language barriers trust building Mood cautious inquisitive Type practical ethical When to use this quote - travel photography - journalistic reporting - anthropology - documentary projects Key Concepts cultural competence ethical photography fieldwork methodology Questions to Reflect On - How can photographers ethically navigate unknown legal environments? - What strategies build rapport quickly? A Different Perspective The quote assumes all foreign contexts are equally restrictive, ignoring places with open policies and collaborative locals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anesthesia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anesthesia/) [Answers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answers/) [Asks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asks/) [Comfortable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfortable/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Foreign countries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-countries/) [Foreign country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-country/) [Havens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/havens/) [Know Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-subjects-4346014/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Length](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/length/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Minutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minutes/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Portraits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portraits/) [Portraits Comfortable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portraits-comfortable-5058048/) [Scene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scene/) [Small talk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-talk/) [Study](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study/) [Study Scene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study-scene-5058047/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Subjects Portraits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects-portraits-5058046/) ## Related quotes > [I never know what to call the subjects in my pictures because I'm uncomfortable with the word actor. I think maybe subjects might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-crewdson/i-never-know-what-to-call-the-subjects-in-my-pictures-because-i-m/) [Gregory Crewdson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-crewdson/) > [“Pain is a Medical Orphan. Perhaps because it has traditionally been considered the consequence of disease or injury, not an illness in itself, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-jay-przybylo/pain-is-a-medical-orphan-perhaps-because-it-has-traditionally-been/) [Henry Jay Przybylo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-jay-przybylo/) > [Why does the longing for love have to be so acute, like a desperate thirst? Is it because love is wanting to be saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-hull/why-does-the-longing-for-love-have-to-be-so-acute-like-a-desperate/) [Jonathan Hull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-hull/) > [To be in love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia - to mistake an ordinary young woman for a goddess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/to-be-in-love-is-merely-to-be-in-a-state-of-perceptual-anesthesia-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Anesthesia before anesthesia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alla/anesthesia-before-anesthesia/) [Alla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alla/) > [“Learn to be fast now. You can learn to be good later.” In the OR, everyone’s eyes are always on the clock. For the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/learn-to-be-fast-now-you-can-learn-to-be-good-later-in-the-or/) [Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/) > [To write poetry, like sincere poetry, it is like performing heart surgery on yourself without anesthesia...in public...You are peeling back layers. You are dissecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amir-sulaiman/to-write-poetry-like-sincere-poetry-it-is-like-performing-heart/) [Amir Sulaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amir-sulaiman/) > [“Shaw also said, alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-finn/shaw-also-said-alcohol-is-the-anesthesia-by-which-we-endure-the/) [A.J. Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-finn/) > [I don't know where the idea originated that memoir writing is cathartic. For me, it's always felt like playing my own neurosurgeon, sans anesthesia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koren-zailckas/i-don-t-know-where-the-idea-originated-that-memoir-writing-is/) [Koren Zailckas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koren-zailckas/) > [“I asked her, dreamily, if we had met, and when she told me that we had not, I gave her a little finger wave,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/i-asked-her-dreamily-if-we-had-met-and-when-she-told-me-that-we-had/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [Everyone agrees that animals should not be exposed to unnecessary pain. But neither should scientists be hamstrung by the requirement to use anesthesia in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/everyone-agrees-that-animals-should-not-be-exposed-to-unnecessary/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) > [People don't become inured to what they are shown - if that's the right way to describe what happens - because of the quantity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/people-don-t-become-inured-to-what-they-are-shown-if-that-s-the-right/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“When Dr. James Young Simpson sought to apply anesthesia to a woman in childbirth, the clergymen of his day foamed at the mouth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-lewis/when-dr-james-young-simpson-sought-to-apply-anesthesia-to-a-woman-in/) [Joseph Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-lewis/) > [I used to like the anesthesia. It was like my favorite part of the whole thing, the 10 seconds before you go out. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-iaquinta/i-used-to-like-the-anesthesia-it-was-like-my-favorite-part-of-the/) [Al Iaquinta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-iaquinta/) > [I dont know where the idea originated that memoir writing is cathartic. For me, its always felt like playing my own neurosurgeon, sans anesthesia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koren-zailckas/i-dont-know-where-the-idea-originated-that-memoir-writing-is/) [Koren Zailckas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koren-zailckas/) ## More by Robert Adams > [Among the most compelling truths in some of the early photographs is their implication of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/among-the-most-compelling-truths-in-some-of-the-early-photographs-is/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Philosophy can forsake too easily the details of experience… many writers and painters have demonstrated that thinking long about what art is or ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/philosophy-can-forsake-too-easily-the-details-of-experience-many/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [The experience of life that you and I have is pretty much a jigsaw puzzle in the box: Day-to-day experiences of disconnected pieces that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-experience-of-life-that-you-and-i-have-is-pretty-much-a-jigsaw/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [“Everything is simplicity there is nothing to do. There is no place to go. There is no thing to become. You are that, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/everything-is-simplicity-there-is-nothing-to-do-there-is-no-place-to/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [When art is defined by Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, you've got a society that's impoverished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/when-art-is-defined-by-damien-hirst-and-jeff-koons-you-ve-got-a/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [When photographers get beyond copying the achievements of others, or just repeating their own accidental first successes, they learn that they do not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/when-photographers-get-beyond-copying-the-achievements-of-others-or/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [A lake that is noisy cannot reflect anything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/a-lake-that-is-noisy-cannot-reflect-anything/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [No one, though has to go to college to make or understand or enjoy art. Wonderful artists and critics - some of the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/no-one-though-has-to-go-to-college-to-make-or-understand-or-enjoy-art/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Still photographs often differ from life more by their silence than by the immobility of their subjects. Landscape pictures tend to converge with life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/still-photographs-often-differ-from-life-more-by-their-silence-than/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Almost all photographers have incurred large expenses in the pursuit of tiny audiences, finding that the wonder they'd hoped to share is something few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/almost-all-photographers-have-incurred-large-expenses-in-the-pursuit/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [You've always been free. You've always been bright and shining. Everything else is just nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/you-ve-always-been-free-you-ve-always-been-bright-and-shining/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [The thing that keeps you scrambling over the rocks, risking snakes, and swatting at the flies is the view. It is only your enjoyment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-thing-that-keeps-you-scrambling-over-the-rocks-risking-snakes-and/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Why is Form beautiful? Because, I think, it helps us confront our worst fear: the suspicion that life may be chaos and that therefore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/why-is-form-beautiful-because-i-think-it-helps-us-confront-our-worst/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [All land, no matter what has happened to it, has over it a grace, an absolutely persistent beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/all-land-no-matter-what-has-happened-to-it-has-over-it-a-grace-an/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [The only things that distinguish the photographer from everybody else are his pictures: they alone are the basis for our special interest in him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-only-things-that-distinguish-the-photographer-from-everybody-else/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) [Explore all 112 Robert Adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) ## More Anesthesia quotes > [“Shaw also said, alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-finn/shaw-also-said-alcohol-is-the-anesthesia-by-which-we-endure-the/) [A.J. Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-finn/) > [I used to like the anesthesia. It was like my favorite part of the whole thing, the 10 seconds before you go out. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-iaquinta/i-used-to-like-the-anesthesia-it-was-like-my-favorite-part-of-the/) [Al Iaquinta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-iaquinta/) > [“When Dr. James Young Simpson sought to apply anesthesia to a woman in childbirth, the clergymen of his day foamed at the mouth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-lewis/when-dr-james-young-simpson-sought-to-apply-anesthesia-to-a-woman-in/) [Joseph Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-lewis/) > [People don't become inured to what they are shown - if that's the right way to describe what happens - because of the quantity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/people-don-t-become-inured-to-what-they-are-shown-if-that-s-the-right/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Everyone agrees that animals should not be exposed to unnecessary pain. But neither should scientists be hamstrung by the requirement to use anesthesia in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/everyone-agrees-that-animals-should-not-be-exposed-to-unnecessary/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) > [“I asked her, dreamily, if we had met, and when she told me that we had not, I gave her a little finger wave,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/i-asked-her-dreamily-if-we-had-met-and-when-she-told-me-that-we-had/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [I don't know where the idea originated that memoir writing is cathartic. For me, it's always felt like playing my own neurosurgeon, sans anesthesia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koren-zailckas/i-don-t-know-where-the-idea-originated-that-memoir-writing-is/) [Koren Zailckas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koren-zailckas/) > [To write poetry, like sincere poetry, it is like performing heart surgery on yourself without anesthesia...in public...You are peeling back layers. You are dissecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amir-sulaiman/to-write-poetry-like-sincere-poetry-it-is-like-performing-heart/) [Amir Sulaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amir-sulaiman/) > [“Learn to be fast now. You can learn to be good later.” In the OR, everyone’s eyes are always on the clock. For the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/learn-to-be-fast-now-you-can-learn-to-be-good-later-in-the-or/) [Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/) > [Anesthesia before anesthesia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alla/anesthesia-before-anesthesia/) [Alla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alla/) > [To be in love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia - to mistake an ordinary young woman for a goddess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/to-be-in-love-is-merely-to-be-in-a-state-of-perceptual-anesthesia-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Why does the longing for love have to be so acute, like a desperate thirst? Is it because love is wanting to be saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-hull/why-does-the-longing-for-love-have-to-be-so-acute-like-a-desperate/) [Jonathan Hull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-hull/) > [“Pain is a Medical Orphan. Perhaps because it has traditionally been considered the consequence of disease or injury, not an illness in itself, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-jay-przybylo/pain-is-a-medical-orphan-perhaps-because-it-has-traditionally-been/) [Henry Jay Przybylo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-jay-przybylo/) > [I dont know where the idea originated that memoir writing is cathartic. For me, its always felt like playing my own neurosurgeon, sans anesthesia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koren-zailckas/i-dont-know-where-the-idea-originated-that-memoir-writing-is/) [Koren Zailckas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koren-zailckas/) > [Maybe honeymoons are God's anesthesia. Like the "laughing gas" used by dentists, perhaps honeymoons are designed to protect us from a bit of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-thoele/maybe-honeymoons-are-god-s-anesthesia-like-the-laughing-gas-used-by/) [Sue Thoele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-thoele/) [Browse all 55 Anesthesia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anesthesia/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In a foreign country it is far from easy to study a scene at length when you know that at any minute someone may appear and ask what you are doing and that you can't answer, and you haven't many references, and you don't know the law. 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