--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Cameras, in short, were clocks for…" description: "\"Cameras, in short, were clocks for seeing, and perhaps in me someone very old still hears in the photographic mechanism the living sound of the wood.\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/roland-barthes-1062_cameras_cameras-in-short-were-clocks-for-seeing_1895766.png" --- # Cameras, in short, were clocks for seeing, and perhaps in… ![“Cameras, in short, were clocks for seeing, and perhaps in me someone very old still hears in the photographic mechanism the living sound of the wood.” quote by Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/roland-barthes-1062_cameras_cameras-in-short-were-clocks-for-seeing_1895766.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/roland-barthes-1062_cameras_cameras-in-short-were-clocks-for-seeing_1895766.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/roland-barthes-1062_cameras_cameras-in-short-were-clocks-for-seeing_1895766.png) > “Cameras, in short, were clocks for seeing, and perhaps in me someone very old still hears in the photographic mechanism the living sound of the wood.” [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The camera captures time like a clock, turning moments into visual records that echo past experiences. **In simple terms:** Cameras turn moments into visual memories. Key Takeaway Use photography to preserve meaningful moments. Themes memory time perception Mood reflective nostalgic Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - family albums - journalistic work - artistic projects Key Concepts visual culture temporal representation Questions to Reflect On - How does a photograph change your memory of an event? - What does “living sound of the wood” suggest? A Different Perspective The image may not fully convey the lived experience behind it. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cameras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cameras/) [Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Clocks Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clocks-seeing-2765952/) [Hears Photographic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hears-photographic-2765951/) [Mechanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mechanism/) [Photographic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographic/) [Photographic Mechanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographic-mechanism-2765953/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing/) [Seeing Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-old-422918/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woods/) ## Related quotes > [For me the noise of Time is not sad: I love bells, clocks, watches — and I recall that at first photographic implements were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/for-me-the-noise-of-time-is-not-sad-i-love-bells-clocks-watches-and-i/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [I love bells, clocks, watches - and I recall that at first photographic implements were related to techniques of cabinetmaking and the machinery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-cotton/i-love-bells-clocks-watches-and-i-recall-that-at-first-photographic/) [Charlotte Cotton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-cotton/) > [The photographic image... is a message without a code.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-photographic-image-is-a-message-without-a-code/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Original minds are not distinguished by being the first to see a new thing, but instead by seeing the old, familiar thing that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by-being-the-first-to-see-a-new/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It's very intense to go back to the past and revive work that I've already experienced and moved forward from. It's like seeing an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-mcgee/it-s-very-intense-to-go-back-to-the-past-and-revive-work-that-i-ve/) [Barry McGee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-mcgee/) > [I love seeing old couples, it makes me realize that actually someone can love you forever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-love-seeing-old-couples-it-makes-me-realize-that-actually-someone/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“My exhaustion tricks me into seeing old faces amid these strangers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brando-skyhorse-author/my-exhaustion-tricks-me-into-seeing-old-faces-amid-these-strangers/) [Brando Skyhorse (Author](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brando-skyhorse-author/) > [It's the worst part of seeing old friends: when your rose-colored memories become undone by reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-meltzer/it-s-the-worst-part-of-seeing-old-friends-when-your-rose-colored/) [Brad Meltzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-meltzer/) > [Seeing old pictures with people you're no longer friends with is sad sometimes, its funny how things change...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/seeing-old-pictures-with-people-you-re-no-longer-friends-with-is-sad/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I go through periods, usually when I'm editing and shooting, of seeing only old films.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/i-go-through-periods-usually-when-i-m-editing-and-shooting-of-seeing/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [You are seeing me now, when I am old and ugly; you should have seen me then, when I was young and ugly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zohra-sehgal/you-are-seeing-me-now-when-i-am-old-and-ugly-you-should-have-seen-me/) [Zohra Sehgal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zohra-sehgal/) > [Seeing your old bestfriend call someone else their best friend...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/seeing-your-old-bestfriend-call-someone-else-their-best-friend/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm no longer the young woman I was playing before, and I'm in a profession where that continuum that is me is irrelevant to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-walter/i-m-no-longer-the-young-woman-i-was-playing-before-and-i-m-in-a/) [Harriet Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-walter/) > [I love seeing Old Couples, it makes me believe that love can last forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-love-seeing-old-couples-it-makes-me-believe-that-love-can-last/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wonder if they realize how much I notice about them They probably haven't a clue because I never look at them or show…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marsden/i-wonder-if-they-realize-how-much-i-notice-about-them-they-probably/) [John Marsden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marsden/) ## More by Roland Barthes > [“Werther identifies himself with the madman, with the footman. As a reader, I can identify myself with Werther. Historically, thousands of subjects have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/werther-identifies-himself-with-the-madman-with-the-footman-as-a/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The Text is not a definitive object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-text-is-not-a-definitive-object/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Valéry used to speak of those people who die in an accident because they are unwilling to let go of their umbrellas; how many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/val-ry-used-to-speak-of-those-people-who-die-in-an-accident-because/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Today there is no symbolic compensation for old age, no recognition of a specific value: wisdom, perceptiveness, experience, vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/today-there-is-no-symbolic-compensation-for-old-age-no-recognition-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The unary Photograph has every reason to be banal, 'unity' of composition being the first rule of vulgar (and notably, of academic) rhetoric: 'The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-unary-photograph-has-every-reason-to-be-banal-unity-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“A creative writer is one for whom writing is a problem.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/a-creative-writer-is-one-for-whom-writing-is-a-problem/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Man does not exist prior to language, either as a species or as an individual. We never encounter a state where man is separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/man-does-not-exist-prior-to-language-either-as-a-species-or-as-an/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“It is said that Time soothes mourning – No, Time makes nothing happen; it merely makes the emotivity of mourning pass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/it-is-said-that-time-soothes-mourning-no-time-makes-nothing-happen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“So long as I perceive the world as hostile, I remain linked to it: \*I am not crazy\*. But sometimes, once my bad temper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/so-long-as-i-perceive-the-world-as-hostile-i-remain-linked-to-it-i-am/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-think-that-cars-today-are-almost-the-exact-equivalent-of-the-great/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“(Sartre) (The world is full without me, as in Nausea; the world plays at living behind a glass partition; the world is in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/sartre-the-world-is-full-without-me-as-in-nausea-the-world-plays-at/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Like love, mourning affects the world—and the worldly—with unreality, with importunity. I resist the world, I suffer from what it demands of me, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/like-love-mourning-affects-the-world-and-the-worldly-with-unreality/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Painting can feign reality without having seen it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/painting-can-feign-reality-without-having-seen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“There is an age at which we teach what we know. Then comes another age at which we teach what we do not know;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/there-is-an-age-at-which-we-teach-what-we-know-then-comes-another-age/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [As a jealous man, I suffer four times over: because I am jealous, because I blame myself for being so, because I fear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/as-a-jealous-man-i-suffer-four-times-over-because-i-am-jealous/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) [Explore all 282 Roland Barthes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## More Cameras quotes > [Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/maybe-law-enforcement-would-like-the-ability-to-turn-on-the-camera-on/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [I have a way to photograph. You work with space, you have a camera, you have a frame, and then a fraction of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastiao-salgado/i-have-a-way-to-photograph-you-work-with-space-you-have-a-camera-you/) [Sebastiao Salgado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastiao-salgado/) > [I'm a film guy. I love it. When I read the screenplay, I knew that there would be no HD camera that could achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deon-taylor/i-m-a-film-guy-i-love-it-when-i-read-the-screenplay-i-knew-that-there/) [Deon Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deon-taylor/) > [To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-shift-the-structure-of-a-sentence-alters-the-meaning-of-that/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I can look around a room and tell you if there are hidden cameras or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-ash/i-can-look-around-a-room-and-tell-you-if-there-are-hidden-cameras-or/) [Lauren Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-ash/) > [There's nothing like the energy in a small comedy club room or a small theater when it's going really well. I can see everybody's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-carey/there-s-nothing-like-the-energy-in-a-small-comedy-club-room-or-a/) [Drew Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-carey/) > [When they took me to do the camera test for the vampire make up, after they put the prosthetic on, I went though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-benz/when-they-took-me-to-do-the-camera-test-for-the-vampire-make-up-after/) [Julie Benz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-benz/) > [I like acting too much and it's too, I'm just too busy doing that and I'm too hungry for it, to get behind the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-weisz/i-like-acting-too-much-and-it-s-too-i-m-just-too-busy-doing-that-and/) [Rachel Weisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-weisz/) > [“To all the secret writers, late-night painters, would-be singers, lapsed and scared artists of every stripe, dig out your paintbrush, or your flute, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/to-all-the-secret-writers-late-night-painters-would-be-singers-lapsed/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [Many times I've sat with a camera and another actor and seen all their fears and insecurities and struggles. You want to support them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-eccleston/many-times-i-ve-sat-with-a-camera-and-another-actor-and-seen-all/) [Christopher Eccleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-eccleston/) > [Don't ever for a minute make the mistake of looking down your nose at westerns. They're art - the good ones, I mean. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wayne/don-t-ever-for-a-minute-make-the-mistake-of-looking-down-your-nose-at/) [John Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wayne/) > [My personal interest in ordinary people is unlimited, but I am fascinated by the challenge of portraying true greatness adequately with my camera.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yousuf-karsh/my-personal-interest-in-ordinary-people-is-unlimited-but-i-am/) [Yousuf Karsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yousuf-karsh/) > [Since a camera is something too heavy for women and initially made for men, you need a good cameraman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitra-farahani/since-a-camera-is-something-too-heavy-for-women-and-initially-made/) [Mitra Farahani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitra-farahani/) > [I'm closer to being happy. I'm doing things that make me happy. 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What I do now with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/i-m-not-so-much-in-the-future-as-always-in-the-present-the-future/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) [Browse all 2,666 Cameras quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cameras/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Cameras, in short, were clocks for seeing, and perhaps in me someone very old still hears in the photographic mechanism the living sound of the wood.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roland Barthes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/cameras-in-short-were-clocks-for-seeing-and-perhaps-in-me-someone/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cameras" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/cameras-in-short-were-clocks-for-seeing-and-perhaps-in-me-someone/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/roland-barthes-1062_cameras_cameras-in-short-were-clocks-for-seeing_1895766.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/roland-barthes-1062_cameras_cameras-in-short-were-clocks-for-seeing_1895766.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5f/roland-barthes-1062_cameras_cameras-in-short-were-clocks-for-seeing_1895766.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Cameras, in short, were clocks for seeing, and perhaps in me someone very old still hears in the…” — Roland Barthes", "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": "Roland Barthes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Cameras, in short, were clocks for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/cameras-in-short-were-clocks-for-seeing-and-perhaps-in-me-someone/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/cameras-in-short-were-clocks-for-seeing-and-perhaps-in-me-someone/#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 } } ] } ```