Alexander Rodchenko Quotes

#1. Damn it, nobody knows what is beautiful and what is not. They do not understand new things.

Alexander Rodchenko

#2. Photography - the new, rapid, concrete reflector of the world - should surely undertake to show the world from all vantage points, and to develop people's capacity to see from all sides. (1928)

Alexander Rodchenko

#3. Landscapes, heads and naked women are called artistic photography, while photographs of current events are called press photography.

Alexander Rodchenko

#4. Art has no place in modern life. It will continue to exist as long as there is a mania for the romantic and so long as there are people who love beautiful lies and deception ... Every modern cultured man must wage war against art, as against opium ... Photograph and be photographed.

Alexander Rodchenko

#5. In order to educate man to a new longing, everyday familiar objects must be shown to him with totally unexpected perspectives and in unexpected situations. New objects should be depicted from different sides in order to provide a complete impression of the object.

Alexander Rodchenko

#6. Photography has all the rights, and all the merits,
necessary for us to turn towards it as the art of our time.

Alexander Rodchenko

#7. One has to take several different shots of a subject, from different points of view and in different situations, as if one examined it in the round rather than looked through the same key-hole again and again.

Alexander Rodchenko

#8. Only the camera seems to be really capable of describing modern life.

Alexander Rodchenko

#9. I reduced painting to its logical conclusion and exhibited three canvases: red, blue, and yellow. I affirmed: this is the end of painting.

Alexander Rodchenko

#10. I want to take some quite incredible photographs that have never been taken before ... pictures which are simple and complex at the same time, which will amaze and overwhelm people ... I must achieve this so that photography can begin to be considered a form of art.

Alexander Rodchenko

#11. Photography has every right and every merit to claim our attention as the art of our age.

Alexander Rodchenko

#12. Don't try to capture a man in one synthetic portrait, but rather in lots of snapshots taken at different times and in different circumstances.

Alexander Rodchenko

#13. We must revolutionize our optical perception. We must remove the veil from our eyes.

Alexander Rodchenko