Utamakura 69

“The direct transfer of artistic gifts is impossible; artistic adaptation takes place through a series of contradictory phases: Shock — Wonder — Imitation — Rejection — Experimentation — Possession.”
― Ken Knabb, Situationist International Anthology

“The streets of the poor quarter of great cities are, above all, a theatre and a battle ground. There unaware and unnoticed every human being is a poet, a marker, a warrior, a dancer and in his innocent artistry he projects against the turmoil of the street, an image of human existence. (from an introduction to the film In the Street (1945–46) by James Agee, Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb in the streets of Harlem, New York)”
― Jane Tormey, Cities and Photography

“Producing a high body count was crucial for promotion in the officer corps. Many high-level officers established “production quotas” for their units, and systems of “debit” and “credit” to calculate exactly how efficiently subordinate units and middle-management personnel performed. Different formulas were used, but the commitment to war as a rational production process was common to all.11”
― Nick Turse, Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam

“A specular perspective of the city demonstrates the voyeurship of both the viewer as spectator, and the photographer as auteur.”
― Jane Tormey, Cities and Photography