‘To quote out of context is the essence of the photographer’s craft. His central problem is a simple one: what shall he include, what shall he reject? The line of decision between in and out is the picture’s edge. While the draughtsman starts with the middle of the sheet, the photographer starts with the frame. The photograph’s edge deļ¬nes content. It isolates unexpected juxtapositions. By surrounding two facts, it creates a relationship. e edge of the photograph dissects familiar forms, and shows their unfamiliar fragment. It creates the shapes that surround objects. The photographer edits the meanings and the patterns of the world through an imaginary frame. This frame is the beginning of his picture’s geometry. It is to the photograph as the cushion is to the billiard table.’
What does John Szarkowski mean when he says that photographers are quoting ‘out of context’ when they make photographic pictures?
What he means is that Photographers mostly only want to take photos they find interesting and what they want to take a photo of.
