Artist’s Statement – Bruce Berkow

Three quotes on photography:

My favorite photography quote is from Dorothea Lange: "A camera is a device that teaches you to see better without a camera."

Whenever I reach for my camera I am always aware of Diane Arbus’ remark: “I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them.”

My personal quote: “Sometimes you don’t take the photograph. The photograph takes you.”

The world around us is rich with images that are lush and revealing no matter where we are, without the need to seek out exotic venues. I want to be more attentive to this world around us and I want viewers of my photographs, as the quote from Lange says, to come away feeling that the photographs have assisted them in sharing that attention. If the viewer feels as though they've been taken somewhere -- whether they have entered into the world of the photograph or the world of the photograph has entered into them -- then I have succeeded. The ultimate goal, however, is not to take the viewer somewhere else, but to have the viewer return and feel more present where they are, wherever they are.