--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What would please me most is to make…" description: "\"What would please me most is to make photographs as incomprehensible as life.\" — William Klein" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/william-klein-9048_incomprehensible_what-would-please-me-most-is-to-make-pho_800619.png" --- # What would please me most is to make photographs as… ![“What would please me most is to make photographs as incomprehensible as life.” quote by William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/william-klein-9048_incomprehensible_what-would-please-me-most-is-to-make-pho_800619.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/william-klein-9048_incomprehensible_what-would-please-me-most-is-to-make-pho_800619.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/william-klein-9048_incomprehensible_what-would-please-me-most-is-to-make-pho_800619.png) > “What would please me most is to make photographs as incomprehensible as life.” [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. He as to create photographs that mirror life's incomprehensible nature, embracing mystery over clarity. **In simple terms:** He wants photos as mysterious as life. Key Takeaway Capture the unknowable in art. Themes art philosophy perception Mood contemplative enigmatic Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - exhibition - personal project - artistic challenge Key Concepts visual ambiguity existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What does mystery add to visual storytelling? - How do you balance clarity and ambiguity? A Different Perspective Audience may find incomprehensible work alienating. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Photographs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographs/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [It pleases me to take amateur photographs of my garden, and it pleases my garden to make my photographs look professional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/it-pleases-me-to-take-amateur-photographs-of-my-garden-and-it-pleases/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [I wanted not to make photographs that would be art, but art that would be photography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-marc-bustamante/i-wanted-not-to-make-photographs-that-would-be-art-but-art-that-would/) Jean-Marc Bustamante > [My work is mostly about memory. It is very important to me that everybody that I have been close to in my life I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-goldin/my-work-is-mostly-about-memory-it-is-very-important-to-me-that/) [Nan Goldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-goldin/) > [What I'm trying to do is make photographs that are universally understood... that cross cultural lines. I want my photographs to be about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ellen-mark/what-i-m-trying-to-do-is-make-photographs-that-are-universally/) [Mary Ellen Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ellen-mark/) > [Subject matter comes to you, you don't go to it... Although I shoot extemporaneously a lot of the time, I prefer to have half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-dupain/subject-matter-comes-to-you-you-don-t-go-to-it-although-i-shoot/) [Max Dupain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-dupain/) > [I want to make photographs whose very ambiguity provokes thought, rather than cuts it off prematurely. I want to make pictures that work on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-pfahl/i-want-to-make-photographs-whose-very-ambiguity-provokes-thought/) [John Pfahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-pfahl/) > [I wanted to make photographs that were immediate and revealing - different from traditional portraiture that called for formal distance between artist and subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-ewald/i-wanted-to-make-photographs-that-were-immediate-and-revealing/) Wendy Ewald > [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 use the camera as a dumb copying device that only serves to document whatever phenomenon appears before it through the conditions set by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-huebler/i-use-the-camera-as-a-dumb-copying-device-that-only-serves-to/) [Douglas Huebler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-huebler/) > [When I first started making photo pieces it wasn't with the idea of a commitment to the medium. I didn't think I would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wegman/when-i-first-started-making-photo-pieces-it-wasn-t-with-the-idea-of-a/) [William Wegman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wegman/) > [You should make photographs with your heart, mind, eye & soul. The capture device is simply there to allow you to transfer your vision…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-frakes/you-should-make-photographs-with-your-heart-mind-eye-soul-the-capture/) Bill Frakes > [One of the biggest mistakes a photographer can make is to look at the real world and cling to the vain hope that next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galen-rowell/one-of-the-biggest-mistakes-a-photographer-can-make-is-to-look-at-the/) [Galen Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galen-rowell/) > [ My aim is increasingly to make my photographs look so much like photographs \[rather than paintings, etchings, etc.\] that unless one has eyes and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-stieglitz/my-aim-is-increasingly-to-make-my-photographs-look-so-much-like/) [Alfred Stieglitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-stieglitz/) > [We do not make photographs with our cameras. We make them with our minds, with our hearts, with our ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-newman/we-do-not-make-photographs-with-our-cameras-we-make-them-with-our/) [Arnold Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-newman/) > [I realized eventually that if I was really on top of what I was doing, I should be able to make photographs out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-mudford/i-realized-eventually-that-if-i-was-really-on-top-of-what-i-was-doing/) Grant Mudford ## More by William Klein > [I always thought I was going to be an artist. I used to draw, and I would read Russian novels until 3 or 4…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/i-always-thought-i-was-going-to-be-an-artist-i-used-to-draw-and-i/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [Being an expatriate doesn't go down well in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/being-an-expatriate-doesn-t-go-down-well-in-america/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [I was 24 years old at the time. I had no real notion of what photography was about. I had no training. By accident,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/i-was-24-years-old-at-the-time-i-had-no-real-notion-of-what/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [I have always done the opposite of what I was trained to do... Having little technical background, I became a photographer. 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 Incomprehensible quotes > [“All the same I keep on looking for someone incomprehensible who won't understand me either, because I have a terrible thirst for brotherhood”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-ajar/all-the-same-i-keep-on-looking-for-someone-incomprehensible-who-won-t/) Emile Ajar > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“O how incomprehensible everything was, and actually sad, although it was also beautiful. One knew nothing. One lived and ran about the earth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-hesse/o-how-incomprehensible-everything-was-and-actually-sad-although-it/) [Herman Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-hesse/) > [I know by myself how incomprehensible God is, seeing I cannot comprehend the parts of my own being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-of-clairvaux/i-know-by-myself-how-incomprehensible-god-is-seeing-i-cannot/) [Bernard of Clairvaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-of-clairvaux/) > [I do not want to found anything on the incomprehensible. I want to know whether I can live with what I know and with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-do-not-want-to-found-anything-on-the-incomprehensible-i-want-to/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is also detestable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/he-has-to-live-in-the-midst-of-the-incomprehensible-which-is-also/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Sometimes people accuse me of being incomprehensible only because they look for an explicative side to my pictures which is not there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/sometimes-people-accuse-me-of-being-incomprehensible-only-because/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [In Tasmania, an island the size of Ireland whose primeval forests astonished 19th-century Europeans, an incomprehensible ecological tragedy is being played out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/in-tasmania-an-island-the-size-of-ireland-whose-primeval-forests/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [Be warned in time, James, and remain, as I do, incomprehensible: to be great is to be misunderstood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/be-warned-in-time-james-and-remain-as-i-do-incomprehensible-to-be/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [You can't explain the unknown in terms of the incomprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-schick/you-can-t-explain-the-unknown-in-terms-of-the-incomprehensible/) Theodore Schick > [Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingman-brewster-jr/incomprehensible-jargon-is-the-hallmark-of-a-profession/) [Kingman Brewster, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingman-brewster-jr/) > [What I like best about your system? It is as incomprehensible as the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-i-like-best-about-your-system-it-is-as-incomprehensible-as-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-always-incomprehensible-to-a-man-that-a-woman-should-ever/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Belief acts as a temporary bridge when we are trying to accept something that seems incomprehensible. We use belief and simply accept the workings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-browning/belief-acts-as-a-temporary-bridge-when-we-are-trying-to-accept/) [L.M. Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-browning/) > [I accept that there may be things far grander and more incomprehensible than we can possibly imagine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-accept-that-there-may-be-things-far-grander-and-more/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) Browse all 120 Incomprehensible quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What would please me most is to make photographs as incomprehensible as life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Klein" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/what-would-please-me-most-is-to-make-photographs-as-incomprehensible/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Incomprehensible" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/what-would-please-me-most-is-to-make-photographs-as-incomprehensible/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/william-klein-9048_incomprehensible_what-would-please-me-most-is-to-make-pho_800619.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/william-klein-9048_incomprehensible_what-would-please-me-most-is-to-make-pho_800619.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/william-klein-9048_incomprehensible_what-would-please-me-most-is-to-make-pho_800619.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What would please me most is to make photographs as incomprehensible as life.” — William Klein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William Klein", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What would please me most is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/what-would-please-me-most-is-to-make-photographs-as-incomprehensible/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/what-would-please-me-most-is-to-make-photographs-as-incomprehensible/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```