--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Part of the reason that these attempts at…" description: "\"Part of the reason that these attempts at explanation fail, I think, is that photographers, like all artists, choose their medium because it allows the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/robert-adams-4362_art_part-of-the-reason-that-these-attempts-a_992968.jpg" --- # Part of the reason that these attempts at explanation… ![“Part of the reason that these attempts at explanation fail, I think, is that photographers, like all artists, choose their medium because it allows them the most fully truthful expression of their vision... as Robert Frost told a person who asked him what one of his poems meant, 'You want me to…” quote by Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/robert-adams-4362_art_part-of-the-reason-that-these-attempts-a_992968.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/robert-adams-4362_art_part-of-the-reason-that-these-attempts-a_992968.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/robert-adams-4362_art_part-of-the-reason-that-these-attempts-a_992968.jpg) > “Part of the reason that these attempts at explanation fail, I think, is that photographers, like all artists, choose their medium because it allows them the most fully truthful expression of their vision... as Robert Frost told a person who asked him what one of his poems meant, 'You want me to say it worse?'” [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. Artists choose mediums that best convey their truth; explanations can be limiting. **In simple terms:** Mediums convey truth; explanations may fail. Key Takeaway Embrace your chosen medium fully. Themes artistic expression communication truth Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - visual arts - writing - teaching - public speaking Key Concepts medium selection interpretive limits Questions to Reflect On - Why do artists resist detailed explanations? - How does medium shape meaning? A Different Perspective Over‑explaining can dilute impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Explanation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explanation/) [Explanation Fail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explanation-fail-2045792/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Failing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failing/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frost/) [Frost Told](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frost-told-2045794/) [Mediums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediums/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographer/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason Attempts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-attempts-2045791/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robert-frost/) [Say Worse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-worse-2045793/) [Think Photographers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-photographers-594334/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Truthful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truthful/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Want me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-me/) [You want me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you-want-me/) ## Related quotes > [To say of men that they are bad is to say they are worse than we think we are, or worse than the ideal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/to-say-of-men-that-they-are-bad-is-to-say-they-are-worse-than-we/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [You are not as bad as people say, you are much, much worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-are-not-as-bad-as-people-say-you-are-much-much-worse/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [At times when I cant take it anymore, I ask myself, How much worse can my life get? 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There is not enough anger in photography; it's pretty much trivialized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-think-photographers-are-too-polite-there-is-not-enough-anger-in/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [“Beguile us in the way you know,” poet Robert Frost”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/beguile-us-in-the-way-you-know-poet-robert-frost/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [When Robert Frost was alive, I was known as the other new England poet, which is to be barely known at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-nemerov/when-robert-frost-was-alive-i-was-known-as-the-other-new-england-poet/) [Howard Nemerov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-nemerov/) > [writing is like being in love. You never get better at it or learn more about it. The day you think you do is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lee-burke/writing-is-like-being-in-love-you-never-get-better-at-it-or-learn/) [James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lee-burke/) > [“The top eleven are, in order, T. S. Eliot’s “Prufrock,” Robert Lowell’s “Skunk Hour,” Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” William…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/the-top-eleven-are-in-order-t-s-eliot-s-prufrock-robert-lowell-s/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [“Love is . . . needing to be with this one person. No—it’s more like wanting to need to be with this one person.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daria-snadowsky/love-is-needing-to-be-with-this-one-person-no-it-s-more-like-wanting/) [Daria Snadowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daria-snadowsky/) > [“Robert Frost didn’t like to explain his poems—and for good reason: to explain a poem is to suck the air from its lungs. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-leuzzi/robert-frost-didn-t-like-to-explain-his-poems-and-for-good-reason-to/) [Tony Leuzzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-leuzzi/) ## 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 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. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. 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": "Part of the reason that these attempts at explanation fail, I think, is that photographers, like all artists, choose their medium because it allows them the most fully truthful expression of their vision... as Robert Frost told a person who asked him what one of his poems meant, 'You want me to say it worse?'", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Adams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/part-of-the-reason-that-these-attempts-at-explanation-fail-i-think-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/part-of-the-reason-that-these-attempts-at-explanation-fail-i-think-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/robert-adams-4362_art_part-of-the-reason-that-these-attempts-a_992968.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/robert-adams-4362_art_part-of-the-reason-that-these-attempts-a_992968.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2aa/robert-adams-4362_art_part-of-the-reason-that-these-attempts-a_992968.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Part of the reason that these attempts at explanation fail, I think, is that photographers, like all…” — Robert Adams", "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": "Robert Adams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Part of the reason that these...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/part-of-the-reason-that-these-attempts-at-explanation-fail-i-think-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/part-of-the-reason-that-these-attempts-at-explanation-fail-i-think-is/#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 } } ] } ```