--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My mother said that when I was young I…" description: "\"My mother said that when I was young I was constantly saying, Look at this - Look at that. I think that taking pictures must be my way of asking people..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1e/ruth-orkin-78896_accomplished_my-mother-said-that-when-i-was-young-i-w_176660.jpg" --- # My mother said that when I was young I was constantly… ![“My mother said that when I was young I was constantly saying, Look at this - Look at that. I think that taking pictures must be my way of asking people to Look at this - Look at that. If my photographs make the viewer feel what I did when I first took them - Isn't this funny... terrible…” quote by Ruth Orkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1e/ruth-orkin-78896_accomplished_my-mother-said-that-when-i-was-young-i-w_176660.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1e/ruth-orkin-78896_accomplished_my-mother-said-that-when-i-was-young-i-w_176660.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1e/ruth-orkin-78896_accomplished_my-mother-said-that-when-i-was-young-i-w_176660.jpg) > “My mother said that when I was young I was constantly saying, Look at this - Look at that. I think that taking pictures must be my way of asking people to Look at this - Look at that. If my photographs make the viewer feel what I did when I first took them - Isn't this funny... terrible... moving... beautiful? - then I've accomplished my purpose.” Ruth Orkin ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Photography is her language for urging others to notice and feel what she sees, measuring success by emotional impact. **In simple terms:** She uses photos to make people feel what she felt. Key Takeaway Create work that evokes shared emotion. Themes art perception emotion purpose communication Mood introspective creative Type artistic inspirational When to use this quote - exhibitions - social media - photo essays - educational workshops Key Concepts visual storytelling empathy subjectivity artistic intent Questions to Reflect On - What emotions do you want your audience to experience? - How do you know when you’ve succeeded? A Different Perspective May not reach all audiences equally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Taking pictures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taking-pictures/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Viewers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/viewers/) ## Related quotes > [I don't ever want to make taking pictures into another way of saying 'Here I am'. Because I'm as here as I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-lee-curtis/i-don-t-ever-want-to-make-taking-pictures-into-another-way-of-saying/) [Jamie Lee Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-lee-curtis/) > [You can't get any pictures from way back there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-durocher/you-can-t-get-any-pictures-from-way-back-there/) [Leo Durocher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-durocher/) > [I make photographs and still make photographs of the natural environment. It's a love because that was part of my life before I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sexton/i-make-photographs-and-still-make-photographs-of-the-natural/) [John Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sexton/) > [I find still photographs make me quite self-conscious,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aidan-gillen/i-find-still-photographs-make-me-quite-self-conscious/) [Aidan Gillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aidan-gillen/) > [I like to choose the people I take photographs of, but when you make your living off it, you've got to take everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astrid-kirchherr/i-like-to-choose-the-people-i-take-photographs-of-but-when-you-make/) [Astrid Kirchherr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astrid-kirchherr/) > [A shudder runs through the viewer of old photographs. For they make visible not the knowledge of the original but the spatial configuration of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-kracauer/a-shudder-runs-through-the-viewer-of-old-photographs-for-they-make/) [Siegfried Kracauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-kracauer/) > [Most of the photographs I make are personal pictures and never end up in print. Even the magazines I shoot for on assignment publish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-alan-harvey/most-of-the-photographs-i-make-are-personal-pictures-and-never-end-up/) [David Alan Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-alan-harvey/) > [I never question what to do, it tells me what to do. The photographs make themselves with my help.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bernhard/i-never-question-what-to-do-it-tells-me-what-to-do-the-photographs/) [Ruth Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bernhard/) > [A lot of people who look at my photographs think it is an easy joke, but it does take a bit of thinking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-jackson/a-lot-of-people-who-look-at-my-photographs-think-it-is-an-easy-joke/) [Alison Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-jackson/) > [When I look at photographs, I couldn't care less "how."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-winogrand/when-i-look-at-photographs-i-couldn-t-care-less-how/) [Garry Winogrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-winogrand/) > [Everywhere I look and most of the time I look, I see photographs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-hardy/everywhere-i-look-and-most-of-the-time-i-look-i-see-photographs/) Bert Hardy > [I look back at photographs and I remember at the time I thought I was not very attractive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-cook/i-look-back-at-photographs-and-i-remember-at-the-time-i-thought-i-was/) [Barbara Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-cook/) > [All of us tend to look at photographs as if we are simply gazing through a two-dimensional window onto some outside world. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-batchen/all-of-us-tend-to-look-at-photographs-as-if-we-are-simply-gazing/) [Geoffrey Batchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-batchen/) > [“Other people used photographs as a way to keep close to the events of their lives; she had used them as a way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/other-people-used-photographs-as-a-way-to-keep-close-to-the-events-of/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I don't look at other photographs much at all. I don't know why. I study my own a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/i-don-t-look-at-other-photographs-much-at-all-i-don-t-know-why-i/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) ## More by Ruth Orkin > [To be a photojournalist takes experience, skill, endurance, energy, salesmanship, organization, wheedling, climbing, gatecrashing, etc. - plus an eye and patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-orkin/to-be-a-photojournalist-takes-experience-skill-endurance-energy/) Ruth Orkin > [Being a photographer is making people look at what I want them to look at.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-orkin/being-a-photographer-is-making-people-look-at-what-i-want-them-to/) Ruth Orkin Explore all 3 Ruth Orkin quotes ## More Accomplished quotes > [I never believed in trying to do anything. 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In times when we thought ourselves indolent, we have afterwards discovered that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-do-not-know-today-whether-we-are-busy-or-idle-in-times-when-we/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I don't know Beyoncé, but I have the impression that she's sincere, that she really is a feminist and wanted to put the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-don-t-know-beyonc-but-i-have-the-impression-that-she-s-sincere-that/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labour is immense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/the-gain-in-self-confidence-of-having-accomplished-a-tiresome-labour/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [With Epcot Center, the Disney corporation has accomplished something I didn't think possible in today's world. They have created a land of make-believe that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/with-epcot-center-the-disney-corporation-has-accomplished-something-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act could harm bear conservation efforts by eliminating revenues from the carefully-regulated sport hunting of polar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-ridenour/listing-the-polar-bear-under-the-endangered-species-act-could-harm/) Amy Ridenour > [“Great things can be accomplished, when it doesnt matter who gets the credit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/great-things-can-be-accomplished-when-it-doesnt-matter-who-gets-the/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [If I could inspire you for even a moment to be yourself and love yourself, and not let what anyone has to say hinder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-neal-hartry/if-i-could-inspire-you-for-even-a-moment-to-be-yourself-and-love/) [Joshua Neal Hartry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-neal-hartry/) Browse all 1,379 Accomplished quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My mother said that when I was young I was constantly saying, Look at this - Look at that. 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