--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In my photographic work I was always…" description: "\"In my photographic work I was always especially entranced... by the moment when the shadows of reality, so to speak, emerge out of nothing on the expos..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/w-g-sebald-10441_darkening_in-my-photographic-work-i-was-always-esp_1825396.png" --- # In my photographic work I was always especially… ![“In my photographic work I was always especially entranced... by the moment when the shadows of reality, so to speak, emerge out of nothing on the exposed paper, as memories do in the middle of the night, darkening again if you try to cling to them.” quote by W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/w-g-sebald-10441_darkening_in-my-photographic-work-i-was-always-esp_1825396.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/w-g-sebald-10441_darkening_in-my-photographic-work-i-was-always-esp_1825396.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/w-g-sebald-10441_darkening_in-my-photographic-work-i-was-always-esp_1825396.png) > “In my photographic work I was always especially entranced... by the moment when the shadows of reality, so to speak, emerge out of nothing on the exposed paper, as memories do in the middle of the night, darkening again if you try to cling to them.” [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) ## 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 reflects on the fleeting, ghostly nature of memory and how images of reality appear and vanish like shadows on photographic paper. **In simple terms:** Memories appear like shadows, then fade when grasped. Key Takeaway Embrace impermanence of memory. Themes memory impermanence photography nostalgia Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - photographic art - creative writing - personal reflection - nighttime contemplation Key Concepts Ephemerality subjectivity visual metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How do you capture fleeting moments? - What does clinging to memory cost? A Different Perspective Memories may be distorted or unreliable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Middle of the night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-of-the-night/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [And on the last day, the bad days become so difficult to recall, because one way or another, she had made a life here,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/and-on-the-last-day-the-bad-days-become-so-difficult-to-recall/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The town was paper, but the memories were not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-town-was-paper-but-the-memories-were-not/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [In my photographic work I'm generally attracted to places that contain memories, history, atmospheres and stories. I'm interested in the places where people have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kenna/in-my-photographic-work-i-m-generally-attracted-to-places-that/) [Michael Kenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kenna/) > [I do have strong convictions and political opinions, but I don't think it's necessary to imbue my photographic work with them. I use photography…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kenna/i-do-have-strong-convictions-and-political-opinions-but-i-don-t-think/) [Michael Kenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kenna/) > [I'm not interested in telling a story in my photographic work. I'm more interested in freezing certain moments in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-simmons/i-m-not-interested-in-telling-a-story-in-my-photographic-work-i-m/) [Laurie Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-simmons/) > [Every human society has its lights and its shadows. That's the reality of existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-lelio/every-human-society-has-its-lights-and-its-shadows-that-s-the-reality/) [Sebastian Lelio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-lelio/) > [“In my photographic work I was always especially entranced, said Austerlitz, by the moment when the shadows of reality, so to speak, emerge out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/in-my-photographic-work-i-was-always-especially-entranced-said/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [We are finally living in Plato's cave, if we consider how those who were imprisoned within the cave - who could do nothing but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/we-are-finally-living-in-plato-s-cave-if-we-consider-how-those-who/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [I believe in the invisible. I do not believe in the definitive reality of things around us. For me, reality is the intuition and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-believe-in-the-invisible-i-do-not-believe-in-the-definitive-reality/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Shadows are in reality, when the sun is shining, the most conspicuous thing in a landscape, next to the highest lights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/shadows-are-in-reality-when-the-sun-is-shining-the-most-conspicuous/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [If I were to choose the sights, the sounds, the fragrances I most would want to see and hear and smell--among all the delights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/if-i-were-to-choose-the-sights-the-sounds-the-fragrances-i-most-would/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [I had become so quiet and so small in the grass by the pond that I was barely noticeable, hardly there. I sat there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-had-become-so-quiet-and-so-small-in-the-grass-by-the-pond-that-i/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [Colours change: in the morning light, red shines out bright and clear and the blues merge into their surroundings, melting into the greens; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-verey/colours-change-in-the-morning-light-red-shines-out-bright-and-clear/) [Rosemary Verey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-verey/) > [These wrinkles are nothing These gray hairs are nothing, This stomach which sags with old food, these bruised and swollen ankles, my darkening brain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/these-wrinkles-are-nothing-these-gray-hairs-are-nothing-this-stomach/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/yet-high-over-the-city-our-line-of-yellow-windows-must-have/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) ## More by W. G. Sebald > [I've always been interested in photographs, collecting them not systematically but randomly. They get lost, then turn up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-photographs-collecting-them-not/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [“In the warmer months of the year one or other of those nocturnal insects quite often strays indoors from the small garden behind my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/in-the-warmer-months-of-the-year-one-or-other-of-those-nocturnal/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [“It is a sore point, because you do have advantages if you have access to more than one language. You also have problems, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/it-is-a-sore-point-because-you-do-have-advantages-if-you-have-access/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [When I was a boy, I'd hide under the kitchen table and wind string around the chairs. I have a sense now that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/when-i-was-a-boy-i-d-hide-under-the-kitchen-table-and-wind-string/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I've always felt that the traditional novel doesn't give you enough information about the narrator, and I think it's important to know the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-felt-that-the-traditional-novel-doesn-t-give-you-enough/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I came from anonymity, and I will continue to write as a private pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-came-from-anonymity-and-i-will-continue-to-write-as-a-private/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [The longer I carry on, the more difficult writing seems to get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/the-longer-i-carry-on-the-more-difficult-writing-seems-to-get/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I don't want to talk about my trials and tribulations. Once you reveal even part of what your real problems might be in life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-don-t-want-to-talk-about-my-trials-and-tribulations-once-you-reveal/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Mine is a European imagination, shaped largely by my very promiscuous reading in German, French, English and, with greater difficulty, Italian.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/mine-is-a-european-imagination-shaped-largely-by-my-very-promiscuous/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I was brought up largely by my grandfather because my father only returned from a prisoner-of-war camp in 1947 and worked in the nearest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-was-brought-up-largely-by-my-grandfather-because-my-father-only/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Places seem to me to have some kind of memory, in that they activate memory in those who look at them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/places-seem-to-me-to-have-some-kind-of-memory-in-that-they-activate/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Men and animals regard each other across a gulf of mutual incomprehension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/men-and-animals-regard-each-other-across-a-gulf-of-mutual/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [It must be extremely uncomfortable to live with a writer - all that preoccupation and brooding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/it-must-be-extremely-uncomfortable-to-live-with-a-writer-all-that/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [“This, I thought, will be what is left after the earth has ground itself down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/this-i-thought-will-be-what-is-left-after-the-earth-has-ground-itself/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I cannot get over the fact that I was born in 1944. I want to find out as much as I can about that year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-cannot-get-over-the-fact-that-i-was-born-in-1944-i-want-to-find-out/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) [Explore all 65 W. G. Sebald quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) ## More Darkening quotes > [Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/yet-high-over-the-city-our-line-of-yellow-windows-must-have/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [These wrinkles are nothing These gray hairs are nothing, This stomach which sags with old food, these bruised and swollen ankles, my darkening brain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/these-wrinkles-are-nothing-these-gray-hairs-are-nothing-this-stomach/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [Colours change: in the morning light, red shines out bright and clear and the blues merge into their surroundings, melting into the greens; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-verey/colours-change-in-the-morning-light-red-shines-out-bright-and-clear/) [Rosemary Verey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-verey/) > [I had become so quiet and so small in the grass by the pond that I was barely noticeable, hardly there. I sat there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-had-become-so-quiet-and-so-small-in-the-grass-by-the-pond-that-i/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [If I were to choose the sights, the sounds, the fragrances I most would want to see and hear and smell--among all the delights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/if-i-were-to-choose-the-sights-the-sounds-the-fragrances-i-most-would/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [When you go, if you go, And I should want to die, there's nothing I'd be saved by more than the time you fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-morgan/when-you-go-if-you-go-and-i-should-want-to-die-there-s-nothing-i-d-be/) [Edwin Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-morgan/) > [I shall desire and I shall find The best of my desires; The autumn road, the mellow wind That soothes the darkening shires. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-brooke/i-shall-desire-and-i-shall-find-the-best-of-my-desires-the-autumn/) [Rupert Brooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-brooke/) > [Thus thought I, as by night I read Of the great army of the dead, The trenches cold and damp, The starved and frozen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/thus-thought-i-as-by-night-i-read-of-the-great-army-of-the-dead-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [The sky is darkening like a stain Something is going to fall like rain And it won't be flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sky-is-darkening-like-a-stain-something-is-going-to-fall-like/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm not sure I would label it a 'survivor,'" said Iko, her sensor darkening with disgust. "It looks more like a rotting pumpkin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/i-m-not-sure-i-would-label-it-a-survivor-said-iko-her-sensor/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [ He who lights his \[candle\] at mine receives light without darkening me. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/he-who-lights-his-candle-at-mine-receives-light-without-darkening-me/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Because the golden egg gleamed in my basket once, though my childhood became an immense sheet of darkening water I was Noah, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/because-the-golden-egg-gleamed-in-my-basket-once-though-my-childhood/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [Light is important to us humans. It influences our moods, our perceptions, our energy levels. A face glimpsed among trees, dappled by the shadows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marsden/light-is-important-to-us-humans-it-influences-our-moods-our/) [John Marsden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marsden/) > [And one rose in a tent of sea and gave A darkening shudder; water fell away; The whale stood shining, and then sank in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yvor-winters/and-one-rose-in-a-tent-of-sea-and-gave-a-darkening-shudder-water-fell/) [Yvor Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yvor-winters/) > [I hate and fear 'science' because of my conviction that, for long to come if not for ever, it will be the remorseless enemy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/i-hate-and-fear-science-because-of-my-conviction-that-for-long-to/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) Browse all 41 Darkening quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In my photographic work I was always especially entranced... by the moment when the shadows of reality, so to speak, emerge out of nothing on the exposed paper, as memories do in the middle of the night, darkening again if you try to cling to them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. 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