--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I want to make a picture that could stand…" description: "\"I want to make a picture that could stand on its own, regardless of what it was a picture of. I've never been a bit interested in the fact that this wa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/william-eggleston-12373_bits_i-want-to-make-a-picture-that-could-stan_1371178.jpg" --- # I want to make a picture that could stand on its own… ![“I want to make a picture that could stand on its own, regardless of what it was a picture of. I've never been a bit interested in the fact that this was a picture of a blues musician or a street corner or something.” quote by William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/william-eggleston-12373_bits_i-want-to-make-a-picture-that-could-stan_1371178.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/william-eggleston-12373_bits_i-want-to-make-a-picture-that-could-stan_1371178.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/william-eggleston-12373_bits_i-want-to-make-a-picture-that-could-stan_1371178.jpg) > “I want to make a picture that could stand on its own, regardless of what it was a picture of. I've never been a bit interested in the fact that this was a picture of a blues musician or a street corner or something.” [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He aims to create images that stand alone, independent of subject, focusing on pure visual composition. **In simple terms:** He wants pictures that are powerful without needing context. Key Takeaway Focus on composition over subject. Themes art photography visual language Mood contemplative artistic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - gallery exhibition - advertising - personal project - educational material Key Concepts aesthetics form autonomy Questions to Reflect On - What makes a picture compelling without context? - How can you emphasize form over subject? A Different Perspective Viewers may still seek narrative, limiting pure visual impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blues music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blues-music/) [Blues Musician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blues-musician/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Musician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musician/) [Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographer/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Picture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/picture/) [Street corners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/street-corners/) [Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets/) ## Related quotes > [I just hope I'm remembered as a good blues musician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-winter/i-just-hope-i-m-remembered-as-a-good-blues-musician/) [Johnny Winter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-winter/) > [The jazz and blues clubs are like the jazz and blues musicians - they're disappearing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-guy/the-jazz-and-blues-clubs-are-like-the-jazz-and-blues-musicians-they/) [Buddy Guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-guy/) > [I didn't get into music to become a blues musician, or a country musician. I'm a singer-songwrit er. In my book that means I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-townes-earle/i-didn-t-get-into-music-to-become-a-blues-musician-or-a-country/) [Justin Townes Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-townes-earle/) > [But between sets I'd sneak over to the black places to hear blues musicians. It got to the point where I was making my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-ray-vaughan/but-between-sets-i-d-sneak-over-to-the-black-places-to-hear-blues/) [Stevie Ray Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-ray-vaughan/) > [As a comedian, you're kind of like a blues musician; you have to live a little bit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-nealon/as-a-comedian-you-re-kind-of-like-a-blues-musician-you-have-to-live-a/) [Kevin Nealon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-nealon/) > [I was essentially raised on blues music. My dad was a blues musician around Dublin when I was a baby, so the only music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hozier/i-was-essentially-raised-on-blues-music-my-dad-was-a-blues-musician/) [Hozier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hozier/) > [Musically, though, you're a character and you're singing a song. If you're not your own character, you're the character in the song, most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-white/musically-though-you-re-a-character-and-you-re-singing-a-song-if-you/) [Jack White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-white/) > [Blues musicians don't retire. They drop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-guy/blues-musicians-don-t-retire-they-drop/) [Buddy Guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-guy/) > [I can show you that I have played with just about every jazz musician, every African musician, every blues musician. It's not like I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-santana/i-can-show-you-that-i-have-played-with-just-about-every-jazz-musician/) [Carlos Santana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-santana/) > [My primary influences were the best jazz players from the 50's and 60's and later some of the pop people from the same time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-becker/my-primary-influences-were-the-best-jazz-players-from-the-50-s-and-60/) [Walter Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-becker/) > [My father's nephew was the blues musician, Lowell Fulson. Every time he came around, he had a pretty car, a beautiful woman and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-wilson/my-father-s-nephew-was-the-blues-musician-lowell-fulson-every-time-he/) Charlie Wilson > [My dad was a blues musician around Dublin when I was a baby, so the only music I would listen to growing up was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hozier/my-dad-was-a-blues-musician-around-dublin-when-i-was-a-baby-so-the/) [Hozier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hozier/) > [When I was sixteen, I wrote the first hundred or so pages of a novel about a piano that was haunted by the ghost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/when-i-was-sixteen-i-wrote-the-first-hundred-or-so-pages-of-a-novel/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [I would look at older blues musicians who just keep going into their seventies. They keep doing it until they drop dead. And I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cornell/i-would-look-at-older-blues-musicians-who-just-keep-going-into-their/) [Chris Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cornell/) > [“He already had a sense of the ways in which white blues fans were unduly aroused by the supreme otherness of black, prewar blues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-petrusich/he-already-had-a-sense-of-the-ways-in-which-white-blues-fans-were/) [Amanda Petrusich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-petrusich/) ## More by William Eggleston > [I like to think that my works flow like music. That may be one reason I work in large groups versus one picture of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/i-like-to-think-that-my-works-flow-like-music-that-may-be-one-reason/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [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/) > [I had the attitude that I would work with this present-day material and do the best I could to describe it with photography, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/i-had-the-attitude-that-i-would-work-with-this-present-day-material/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [Generally, that's what happens-a fundamental rotting of the idea. They woke up with the wrong idea. It's just like music: If you don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/generally-that-s-what-happens-a-fundamental-rotting-of-the-idea-they/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [I knew it was happening, but I never paid much attention to it . . . just to the passage of time. Something new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/i-knew-it-was-happening-but-i-never-paid-much-attention-to-it-just-to/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [You become technically proficient whether you want to or not, the more you take pictures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/you-become-technically-proficient-whether-you-want-to-or-not-the-more/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [Unfortunately they're practically all dead. And many were my closest associates: friends, co-directors, whatever you want to say - my partners in crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/unfortunately-they-re-practically-all-dead-and-many-were-my-closest/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [I had this notion of what I called a democratic way of looking around, that nothing was more or less important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/i-had-this-notion-of-what-i-called-a-democratic-way-of-looking-around/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [I met and became close with John Szarkowski of the Museum of Modern Art. He was incredibly supportive about me working in color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/i-met-and-became-close-with-john-szarkowski-of-the-museum-of-modern/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [The immediate reviews were very hostile, but they didn't bother me-I had the attitude that I was right. The poor guys who were critics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/the-immediate-reviews-were-very-hostile-but-they-didn-t-bother-me-i/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [Only the few times I've been to so-called treatment centers, which were a complete waste of money and useless. I didn't know what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/only-the-few-times-i-ve-been-to-so-called-treatment-centers-which/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [I quite frequently don't look through the camera, which is very close to being blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/i-quite-frequently-don-t-look-through-the-camera-which-is-very-close/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [A lot of my friends were mostly working in black-and-white-people like Lee Friedlander, Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, and others. We would exchange prints with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/a-lot-of-my-friends-were-mostly-working-in-black-and-white-people/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [Everything must work in concert. Composition is important, but so are many other things, from content to the way colours work with or against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/everything-must-work-in-concert-composition-is-important-but-so-are/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [My friend who I went to boarding school with was interested in photography. He insisted that I buy a camera and marched me downtown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/my-friend-who-i-went-to-boarding-school-with-was-interested-in/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) [Explore all 55 William Eggleston quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) ## More Bits quotes > [ Brad \[Dourif\] would tell himself that he was not intentionally trying to mimic Jack Nicholson in any way. 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This is a bit rich coming from a man who actually married his own mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-morrissey/he-referred-to-me-as-an-insufferable-puffed-up-prat-this-is-a-bit/) [Steven Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-morrissey/) > [It won't do you a bit of good to know everything if you don't do anything with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-fitzhugh/it-won-t-do-you-a-bit-of-good-to-know-everything-if-you-don-t-do/) [Louise Fitzhugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-fitzhugh/) > [I was told I had brain damage. I always knew it was an unfair label. 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I've never been a bit interested in the fact that this was a picture of a blues musician or a street corner or something.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Eggleston" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/i-want-to-make-a-picture-that-could-stand-on-its-own-regardless-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bits" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/i-want-to-make-a-picture-that-could-stand-on-its-own-regardless-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/william-eggleston-12373_bits_i-want-to-make-a-picture-that-could-stan_1371178.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/william-eggleston-12373_bits_i-want-to-make-a-picture-that-could-stan_1371178.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/william-eggleston-12373_bits_i-want-to-make-a-picture-that-could-stan_1371178.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I want to make a picture that could stand on its own, regardless of what it was a picture of. 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