--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The New York book was a visual diary and…" description: "\"The New York book was a visual diary and it was also kind of personal newspaper. I wanted it to look like the news. I didn’t relate to European photogr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d3/william-klein-9048_black_the-new-york-book-was-a-visual-diary-and_2106592.png" --- # The New York book was a visual diary and it was also kind… ![“The New York book was a visual diary and it was also kind of personal newspaper. I wanted it to look like the news. I didn’t relate to European photography. It was too poetic and anecdotal for me… the kinetic quality of new york, the kids, dirt, madness—I tried to find a photographic style that…” quote by William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d3/william-klein-9048_black_the-new-york-book-was-a-visual-diary-and_2106592.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d3/william-klein-9048_black_the-new-york-book-was-a-visual-diary-and_2106592.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d3/william-klein-9048_black_the-new-york-book-was-a-visual-diary-and_2106592.png) > “The New York book was a visual diary and it was also kind of personal newspaper. I wanted it to look like the news. I didn’t relate to European photography. It was too poetic and anecdotal for me… the kinetic quality of new york, the kids, dirt, madness—I tried to find a photographic style that would come close to it. So I would be grainy and contrasted and black. Id crop, blur, play with the negatives. I didn’t see clean technique being right for New York. I could imagine my pictures lying in the gutter like the New York Daily News.” [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Klein sought a gritty, kinetic visual style reflecting New York’s raw energy, rejecting polished European aesthetics. **In simple terms:** He wanted chaotic, newspaper‑like photos of NYC life. Key Takeaway Embrace imperfection to capture authentic urban life. Themes photography urbanism authenticity style contrast Mood raw energetic defiant Type artistic descriptive When to use this quote - documenting city life - street photography - artistic experimentation - media design - visual journalism Key Concepts visual storytelling grain contrast negative manipulation Questions to Reflect On - How does chaos convey truth? - When is polish appropriate? A Different Perspective Such a style may alienate viewers who prefer polished images. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Blur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blur/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Clean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clean/) [Crops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crops/) [Daily news](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daily-news/) [Diaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diaries/) [Dirt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dirt/) [Grainy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grainy-1860418/) [Grainy Contrasted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grainy-contrasted-4233233/) [Gutters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gutters/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness/) [New york](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-york/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [Photographic Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographic-style-3815131/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Poetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetic/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Relate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relate/) [Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style/) [Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technique/) [Tried Photographic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tried-photographic-3815129/) [Visual Diary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visual-diary-1729742/) [Visuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visuals/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [The kinetic quality of New York, the kids, dirt, madness - I tried to find a photographic style that would come close to it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/the-kinetic-quality-of-new-york-the-kids-dirt-madness-i-tried-to-find/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [French photography was basically poetic, and mine was vulgar and brash and violent, except that there's never any violence in the photographs: it's only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/french-photography-was-basically-poetic-and-mine-was-vulgar-and-brash/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature... The excitement of grainy film, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/whatever-you-now-find-weird-ugly-uncomfortable-and-nasty-about-a-new-2/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [“Writing should be a little bit grainy, it should be a little bit raw. It should be every single thing flowing inside of us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-sherl/writing-should-be-a-little-bit-grainy-it-should-be-a-little-bit-raw/) [Gregory Sherl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-sherl/) > [“The picture is grainy. But that’s to be expected when photographing bread.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/the-picture-is-grainy-but-that-s-to-be-expected-when-photographing/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [More and more are turning to photography as a medium of expression as well as communication. The leavening of aesthetic approaches continues. While it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beaumont-newhall/more-and-more-are-turning-to-photography-as-a-medium-of-expression-as/) [Beaumont Newhall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beaumont-newhall/) > [The photograph is to a great degree evidence of the conversation I had with the person. It's a part of my visual diary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamel-shabazz/the-photograph-is-to-a-great-degree-evidence-of-the-conversation-i/) [Jamel Shabazz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamel-shabazz/) > [A lot of the images in my work are a kind of visual diary of places I've been, what I've seen, heard, smelt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-da-rimini/a-lot-of-the-images-in-my-work-are-a-kind-of-visual-diary-of-places-i/) [Francesca Da Rimini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-da-rimini/) > [“I photographer because I want a visual diary. Photography lets me capture the fleeting moments of daily life, the images would otherwise fade into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-geiger/i-photographer-because-i-want-a-visual-diary-photography-lets-me/) [Chris Geiger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-geiger/) > [I've always loved painting, although I never show anyone what I've done. Mainly because I don't do it well. But it's like a form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judi-dench/i-ve-always-loved-painting-although-i-never-show-anyone-what-i-ve/) [Judi Dench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judi-dench/) > [A picture means I know where I was every minute. That's why I take pictures. It's a visual diary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/a-picture-means-i-know-where-i-was-every-minute-that-s-why-i-take/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [“The Chicago Daily News Foreign Service presents herewith the first attempt to recount historically one of the great American tragedies of the Pacific War:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-weller/the-chicago-daily-news-foreign-service-presents-herewith-the-first/) [George Weller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-weller/) > [“The great novel of twentieth-century New York might be the Daily News.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/the-great-novel-of-twentieth-century-new-york-might-be-the-daily-news/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [To me the sort of like, the ethos, if you will, of like tabloid is like Daily News in the 1970s. It's a news…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-polgreen/to-me-the-sort-of-like-the-ethos-if-you-will-of-like-tabloid-is-like/) [Lydia Polgreen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-polgreen/) > [I don't have to deal with the issues of the daily news cycle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-suskind/i-don-t-have-to-deal-with-the-issues-of-the-daily-news-cycle/) [Ron Suskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-suskind/) ## More by William Klein > [I always thought I was going to be an artist. 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Adopting a machine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/i-have-always-done-the-opposite-of-what-i-was-trained-to-do-having/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [The best critics of America are Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/the-best-critics-of-america-are-americans/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [My father was like Willy Loman, you know: he never really made it - and he was from a family where there were people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/my-father-was-like-willy-loman-you-know-he-never-really-made-it-and/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [My father was convinced that America was the greatest place in the world. I'm afraid I didn't have the family I would have dreamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/my-father-was-convinced-that-america-was-the-greatest-place-in-the/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [This is supposed to be the Big Apple, with neighborhoods where the houses are all good-looking and the skyscrapers and everything. But to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/this-is-supposed-to-be-the-big-apple-with-neighborhoods-where-the/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [The English are very exotic to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/the-english-are-very-exotic-to-me/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [I feel like I'm doing something that's worthwhile. I feel like I'm showing something other people haven't shown. I don't get to talk to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/i-feel-like-i-m-doing-something-that-s-worthwhile-i-feel-like-i-m/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [The kinetic quality of New York, the kids, dirt, madness - I tried to find a photographic style that would come close to it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/the-kinetic-quality-of-new-york-the-kids-dirt-madness-i-tried-to-find/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [In America, kids would go to college and get out and buy a second-hand car and go across the country and discover America. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/in-america-kids-would-go-to-college-and-get-out-and-buy-a-second-hand/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [Sometimes, I'd take shots without aiming, just to see what happened. I'd rush into crowds - bang! bang! ... It must be close to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/sometimes-i-d-take-shots-without-aiming-just-to-see-what-happened-i-d/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [Don't have rules, taboos, or limits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/don-t-have-rules-taboos-or-limits/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [My way of living and working is that I'll do my thing. I went from one thing to another. That annoyed people. They didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/my-way-of-living-and-working-is-that-i-ll-do-my-thing-i-went-from-one/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) [Explore all 75 William Klein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) ## More Black quotes > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. 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Wilderson III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-b-wilderson-iii/) > [I know how hard it is to be a woman, especially a black woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-know-how-hard-it-is-to-be-a-woman-especially-a-black-woman/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/if-soot-stains-your-tunic-dye-it-black-this-is-vengeance/) [R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/) > [Hollywood is so fixated on keeping it that way because it's generating the buzz, but that representation isn't right. 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