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Posted by Egor 
· January 6, 2013 

More Bartlett’s Rejects

Concision is a virtue. Some writers express themselves thoroughly with only a laconically minimalist assemblage of words. These wordsmiths — deities of pithiness — are my inspiration. For unlike them, I am an adjective junkie cavorting in the company of the loquacious. I imbibe in drunken orgies of word gluttony and succumb most decadently to the pleasures of literary contrivance, chasing after bare naked semantics and groping at nubile symbolic metaphors — vices all glaringly illuminated by this very paragraph.

Of the 19 articles I penned previously for the Leica blog, 18 of them feature prose with an unequivocally purplish hue. The only one that didn’t — the one in which I managed an air of dignity and sober succinctness, was a little post called “Bartlett’s Rejects.”

At the time, I described the article as “nothing more than a mathematically-challenged baker’s dozen of my own personal photography quotes — unadorned with tedious explanatory prose and contextual verbiage.”

The article was neat, tidy, mussless and fussless. 14 little thoughts that each spoke volumes despite their brevity. So after my recent 3-part, 10,000 word Monochrom review, what better way to celebrate my 20th f/Egor article than with a sequel to my one and only exercise in linguistic economy?

And so, to the blare of imaginary trumpets, I present for your copying, pasting and tweeting pleasure… More Bartlett’s Rejects:

“The most important element in a photograph is the one you can’t see.” – grEGORy simpson

“Never let truth ruin a perfectly good photograph.” – grEGORy simpson

“A monkey could take the same photos I do — my skill is in recognizing which are worth sharing.” – gEGORy simpson

“I’m much more concerned with what a photograph says than what it looks like.” – grEGORy simpson

“I’d rather have a phone in my camera than a camera in my phone.” – grEGORy simpson

“Photography is story-telling with your fingers crossed.” – grEGORy simpson

“I admire people who are astute enough to criticize my photos for all the same reasons I like them.” – grEGORy simpson

“A photographer who judges others by the cameras they use would be better off owning an endoscope.” – grEGORy simpson

“Imagine how visually rich the world would be if photographers took their craft as seriously as they take themselves.” – grEGORy simpson

“If your prints aren’t good enough, you’re not distant enough.” – grEGORy simpson

“My primary photographic motivator is a fear of irrelevance.” – grEGORy simpson

“No matter how awful they are, I won’t discard photographs — that would be akin to denying my own existence.” – grEGORy simpson

“I know I’ve done something worthwhile when a large number of strangers feel compelled to tell me how horrible I am.” – grEGORy simpson

“I don’t photograph what I see, I photograph what I feel.” – grEGORy simpson


©2012 grEGORy simpson

This article (along with many of its associated comments) first appeared in my f/Egor column for the Leica Camera Blog on December 4, 2012.

ABOUT THESE PHOTOS: “Envision The Future” and “Distant Skywalker Relations” were both shot with a Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron. “From The Inside Outside” was shot with a Leica M9 and a 1999 50mm Summilux Thread Mount Lens (no, that’s not a typo — it’s a fairly rare lens released only into the Japanese market). “Melancholia” was shot with a Leica M9 and a 1982 v4 35mm Summicron (though, frankly, it probably wouldn’t have mattered what I used for this particular shot).

If you find these photos enjoyable or the articles beneficial, please consider making a DONATION to this site’s continuing evolution. As you’ve likely realized, ULTRAsomething is not an aggregator site — serious time and effort go into developing the original content contained within these virtual walls.

Categories : f/Egor (Leica Blog), Musings
Tags : photography quotations, photography quotes
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Comments

  1. Linden says:
    January 21, 2015 at 9:42 pm

    🙂

  2. Wolfgang Lonien says:
    March 6, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    Wow. These photos…

    • Egor says:
      March 6, 2016 at 11:39 pm

      Hi Wolfgang. Thanks for leaving the comment open-ended. That way, it doesn’t matter whether I’m feeling pessimistic or optimistic about my work — I can simply complete your comment with the verb of my choice, and thus achieve total affirmation of my mood. 🙂

  3. Pigeon says:
    April 17, 2024 at 4:43 am

    Why settle for a single adjective when three will get your point across far more succinctly?

    “A photographer who judges others by the cameras they use would be better off owning an endoscope.”

    What a surprising coincidence. I was looking at a Zenit MT1 on ebay just an hour ago. For half frame purposes only of course.

    • Egor says:
      April 18, 2024 at 9:38 pm

      Hmmm… eBay… old half frame cameras… the combination does entice.

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