--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would that my photographs might be, not…" description: "\"I would that my photographs might be, not the coverage of a news event, but an indictment of war - the brutal corrupting viciousness of its doing to th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/w-eugene-smith-17192_begin-again_i-would-that-my-photographs-might-be-not_1247408.jpg" --- # I would that my photographs might be, not the coverage of… ![“I would that my photographs might be, not the coverage of a news event, but an indictment of war - the brutal corrupting viciousness of its doing to the minds and bodies of men; and, that my photographs might be a powerful emotional catalyst to the reasoning which would help this vile and criminal…” quote by W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/w-eugene-smith-17192_begin-again_i-would-that-my-photographs-might-be-not_1247408.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/w-eugene-smith-17192_begin-again_i-would-that-my-photographs-might-be-not_1247408.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/w-eugene-smith-17192_begin-again_i-would-that-my-photographs-might-be-not_1247408.jpg) > “I would that my photographs might be, not the coverage of a news event, but an indictment of war - the brutal corrupting viciousness of its doing to the minds and bodies of men; and, that my photographs might be a powerful emotional catalyst to the reasoning which would help this vile and criminal stupidity from beginning again.” [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Photographs should expose war’s cruelty and provoke moral reflection to prevent recurrence. **In simple terms:** Images can reveal war’s horror and inspire action against it. Key Takeaway Use photography to challenge injustice. Themes war ethics activism Mood somber determined Type activist educational When to use this quote - documentary projects - peace advocacy - educational curricula - media campaigns Key Concepts visual storytelling human rights Questions to Reflect On - What visual strategies best convey suffering without desensitizing? - How can art inspire concrete change? A Different Perspective Impact depends on audience willingness to engage with harsh truths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Begin again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/begin-again/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Brutal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutal/) [Criminals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminals/) [Emotional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotional/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind and body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-and-body/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Reasoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasoning/) [Stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupidity/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [I would that my photographs might be, not the coverage of a news event, but an indictment of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/i-would-that-my-photographs-might-be-not-the-coverage-of-a-news-event/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [I wanted my photographs to be as powerful as the last thing a person sees or remembers before death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-peter-witkin/i-wanted-my-photographs-to-be-as-powerful-as-the-last-thing-a-person/) [Joel-Peter Witkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-peter-witkin/) > [Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-adams/still-photographs-are-the-most-powerful-weapon-in-the-world-people/) [Eddie Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-adams/) > [Still photographs are the most powerful weapons in the world. Words and pictures have a continuing struggle for primacy. In my mind, a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-adams/still-photographs-are-the-most-powerful-weapons-in-the-world-words/) [Eddie Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-adams/) > [War is a brutal and fierce means of pacification; it means the suppression of resistance by the destruction or enslavement of the conquered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-frederic-amiel/war-is-a-brutal-and-fierce-means-of-pacification-it-means-the/) [Henri Frederic Amiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-frederic-amiel/) > [War is brutal, barbaric and bloody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercedes-schlapp/war-is-brutal-barbaric-and-bloody/) [Mercedes Schlapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercedes-schlapp/) > [War is and always has been a brutal exercise that destroys lives, families and communities. It is never something for which we hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/war-is-and-always-has-been-a-brutal-exercise-that-destroys-lives/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Dress up inna black and go funeral, tell a dutty gyal say the war brutal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-saw/dress-up-inna-black-and-go-funeral-tell-a-dutty-gyal-say-the-war/) [Lady Saw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-saw/) > [All children are artists, and it is an indictment of our culture that so many of them lose their creativity, their unfettered imaginations, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/all-children-are-artists-and-it-is-an-indictment-of-our-culture-that/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [You have to understand that once an indictment has been signed, all countries that are signature to the U.N. charter will hand a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-greig/you-have-to-understand-that-once-an-indictment-has-been-signed-all/) [Tony Greig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-greig/) > [My lord, I have some matter of law relating to the indictment, and I desire counsel to speak to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kidd/my-lord-i-have-some-matter-of-law-relating-to-the-indictment-and-i/) [William Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kidd/) > [I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy-toole/i-am-at-the-moment-writing-a-lengthy-indictment-against-our-century/) [John Kennedy Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy-toole/) > [The barometer that shows "variable" is an ironic indictment of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-bergam-n/the-barometer-that-shows-variable-is-an-ironic-indictment-of-god/) [Jose Bergamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-bergam-n/) > [Half of Louisiana is under water and the other half is under indictment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-tauzin/half-of-louisiana-is-under-water-and-the-other-half-is-under/) [Billy Tauzin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-tauzin/) > [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/) ## More by W. Eugene Smith > [If I can get them to think, get them to feel, get them to see, then I've done about all that I can as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/if-i-can-get-them-to-think-get-them-to-feel-get-them-to-see-then-i-ve/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [... to became neighbours and friends instead of journalists. This is the way to make your finest photographs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/to-became-neighbours-and-friends-instead-of-journalists-this-is-the/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [Most photographers seem to operate with a pane of glass between themselves and their subjects. They just can't get inside and know the subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/most-photographers-seem-to-operate-with-a-pane-of-glass-between/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [I was after a set of pictures, so that when people looked at them they would say, ‘This is war’-that the people who were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/i-was-after-a-set-of-pictures-so-that-when-people-looked-at-them-they/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [I am an idealist. I often feel I would like to be an artist in an ivory tower. Yet it is imperative that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/i-am-an-idealist-i-often-feel-i-would-like-to-be-an-artist-in-an/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [The first word I would remove from the folklore of journalism is the word objective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/the-first-word-i-would-remove-from-the-folklore-of-journalism-is-the/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [What's the best type of light? Why that would be available light... and by available light I mean any damn light is available.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/what-s-the-best-type-of-light-why-that-would-be-available-light-and/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [I am constantly torn between the attitude of the conscientious journalist who is a recorder and interpreter of the facts and of the creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/i-am-constantly-torn-between-the-attitude-of-the-conscientious/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [You can't photograph if you're not in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/you-can-t-photograph-if-you-re-not-in-love/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [I think photojournalism is documentary photography with a purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/i-think-photojournalism-is-documentary-photography-with-a-purpose/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [I would that my photographs might be, not the coverage of a news event, but an indictment of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/i-would-that-my-photographs-might-be-not-the-coverage-of-a-news-event/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [Many claim I am a photographer of tragedy. In the greater sense I am not, for though I often photograph where the tragic emotion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/many-claim-i-am-a-photographer-of-tragedy-in-the-greater-sense-i-am/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [My camera, my intentions stopped no man from falling. Nor did they aid him after he had fallen. It could be said that photographs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/my-camera-my-intentions-stopped-no-man-from-falling-nor-did-they-aid/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [The purpose of all art is to cause a deep and emotion, also one that is entertaining or pleasing. Out of the depth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/the-purpose-of-all-art-is-to-cause-a-deep-and-emotion-also-one-that/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [I didn’t write the rules. Why would I follow them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/i-didn-t-write-the-rules-why-would-i-follow-them/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) [Explore all 37 W. Eugene Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) ## More Begin again quotes > [Begin: To have commenced is half the deed. Half yet remains; Begin again on this and thou wilt finish all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/decimius-magnus-ausonius/begin-to-have-commenced-is-half-the-deed-half-yet-remains-begin-again/) [Decimius Magnus Ausonius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/decimius-magnus-ausonius/) > [The thing about acting is even if you get technically more skilled at what you do, every time you begin a film or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-weisz/the-thing-about-acting-is-even-if-you-get-technically-more-skilled-at/) [Rachel Weisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-weisz/) > [For the first time in a long time I thought about Maman. I felt as if I understood why at the end of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/for-the-first-time-in-a-long-time-i-thought-about-maman-i-felt-as-if/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Sometimes I find the best way of getting from one place to another is simply to erase everything and begin again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norton-juster/sometimes-i-find-the-best-way-of-getting-from-one-place-to-another-is/) [Norton Juster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norton-juster/) > [If once again Germany destabilizes Europe, then Germany will be not be divided again, but wiped off the map. East and West have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/if-once-again-germany-destabilizes-europe-then-germany-will-be-not-be/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [My day's work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/my-day-s-work-will-begin-again-the-next-morning-the-tomb-is-not-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I close my eyes. An image flashes—emerging from the van with Julian after our escape from New York City; believing, in that moment, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-close-my-eyes-an-image-flashes-emerging-from-the-van-with-julian/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Sometimes we reach a dead end. In that case, start again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felisa-tan/sometimes-we-reach-a-dead-end-in-that-case-start-again/) [Felisa Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felisa-tan/) > [I am from time to time congratulating myself on my general want of success as a lecturer; apparent want of success, but is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-am-from-time-to-time-congratulating-myself-on-my-general-want-of/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Living is the purpose of life, And meaning can be found therein. I finds thou. Thou becomes it. And it begins again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/living-is-the-purpose-of-life-and-meaning-can-be-found-therein-i/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [One of the characteristics of North American culture is that you can always start again. You can always move forward, cross a border of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/one-of-the-characteristics-of-north-american-culture-is-that-you-can/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [Since the 1960s, exile for Haitians is a condition that ends only to begin again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madison-smartt-bell/since-the-1960s-exile-for-haitians-is-a-condition-that-ends-only-to/) [Madison Smartt Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madison-smartt-bell/) > [The hunger and thirst for knowledge, the keen delight in the chase, the good humored willingness to admit that the scent was false, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-william-maitland/the-hunger-and-thirst-for-knowledge-the-keen-delight-in-the-chase-the/) Frederic William Maitland > [Everyone's mind wanders, without doubt, and we always have to start over. Everyone resists or dislikes the thought of or is too tired to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/everyone-s-mind-wanders-without-doubt-and-we-always-have-to-start/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [Reconcile the loss of the painting - no matter how many times it may happen - with the joy of beginning again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-l-goldberg/reconcile-the-loss-of-the-painting-no-matter-how-many-times-it-may/) [Joshua L. Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-l-goldberg/) [Browse all 127 Begin again quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/begin-again/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I would that my photographs might be, not the coverage of a news event, but an indictment of war - the brutal corrupting viciousness of its doing to the minds and bodies of men; and, that my photographs might be a powerful emotional catalyst to the reasoning which would help this vile and criminal stupidity from beginning again.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. 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