William Wegman Quotes

• I was born on a tiny cot in southwestern Massachusetts during World War II. A sickly child, I turned to photography to overcome my loneliness and isolation.

  William Wegman

  Photography, Children, War

  Joan Simon, William Wegman (2006). “William Wegman: Funney/strange”, p.105, Yale University Press

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• As soon as I got funny, I killed any majestic intentions in my work.

  William Wegman

  Majestic, Intention, Humour

  Lisa Lyons, William Wegman, Kim Levin, Walker Art Center (1982). “Wegman's world: 5 December 1982 to 16 January 1983, Walker Art Center”

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• My Weimaraners are perfect fashion models. Their elegant, slinky forms are covered in gray - and gray, everyone knows, goes with anything.

  William Wegman

  Fashion, Perfect, Slinkies

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• Dangle something in front of the camera. Get something surprising to be released.

  William Wegman

  Cameras, Surprising, Fronts

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• Start with a premise and then somehow invert it.

  William Wegman

  Invert, Premises

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• 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 to become a photographer to make my photographs. I recall that anything could be used as material for art in that era. Photography was just one more thing.

  William Wegman

  Photography, Art, Commitment

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• Sometimes I've drawn on autobiographical material, maybe situations that I've felt trapped by, and turned them into something else, but in a very superficial way. When you find yourself thinking and worrying about certain things they become ridiculous.

  William Wegman

  Thinking, Worry, Finding Yourself

  William Wegman, Frédéric Paul, Fonds régional d'art contemporain Limousin (1993). “William Wegman, l'oeuvre photographique”, Frac Limousin

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• My background is in painting but in school in the sixties, like many artists of that time, I believed that painting was dead. I began to work in collaboration with other artists in the creation of performances and installation works. Soon after, I started making video and photographic works and in the process became fascinated with the media itself. Before long I was setting things up just for the camera. In l970 I got a dog and he turned out to be very interested in video and photography as well.

  William Wegman

  Photography, Dog, School

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• Man Ray takes a lot of pressure off me. It's like having a third person in a conversation; one of you doesn't have to talk all the time.

  William Wegman

  Men, Rays, Pressure

  Lisa Lyons, William Wegman, Kim Levin, Walker Art Center (1982). “Wegman's world: 5 December 1982 to 16 January 1983, Walker Art Center”

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• In 1978 I decided not to work with Man Ray as an act of self-discipline. I didn't want to rely on him. Man Ray hated not working, though. He would come into my studio, see me drawing or working on photographs, and just slump down at my feet with a big sigh. Fortunately for both of us the year ended. Polaroid had invented a new camera, the twenty-by-twenty-four, and I was invited to Cambridge, Mass., to experiment with it. Naturally, I took Man Ray and we were working again.

  William Wegman

  Men, Self, Years

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• I get so confused about life photography art.

  William Wegman

  Photography, Art, Confused

  Joan Simon, William Wegman (2006). “William Wegman: Funney/strange”, p.210, Yale University Press

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• Photography as a subject is a good one. Its history is only about 150 years... You only have to know about twenty-five or thirty names and that's it. All you need. In painting there are more than 1,000.

  William Wegman

  Photography, Years, Names

  Joan Simon, William Wegman (2006). “William Wegman: Funney/strange”, p.210, Yale University Press

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• I was really relieved not to have to drag something in front of the camera; I could use a pencil and paper. A regular pencil and typing paper. That appealed to me.

  William Wegman

  Cameras, Use, Paper

  Joan Simon, William Wegman (2006). “William Wegman: Funney/strange”, p.105, Yale University Press

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• Man Ray... loved games and absolutely knew about the camera. It is interesting to note that, although I used him in only about 10 percent of the photographs and videotapes, most people think of him as omnipresent in my work. It irked me sometimes to be known only as the guy with the dog, but on the other hand it was a thrill to have a famous dog.

  William Wegman

  Dog, Men, Thinking

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• I was working with mud and photographs and thread, eyelashes, carrots and acetone... I was throwing radios off buildings and... remember floating styrofoam commas down the Milwaukee River.

  William Wegman

  Eyelashes, Rivers, Floating

  William Wegman, Frédéric Paul, Fonds régional d'art contemporain Limousin (1993). “William Wegman, l'oeuvre photographique”, Frac Limousin

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