Punting along the Cam in Cambridge

Memories don't come better than punting along the Cam with Ally, work mates and mum and Mike when they visited us.

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• Cambridge living
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Favourite photographers: David Doubilet

David Doubilet’s photographs fill me with an almost childlike sense of wonder. For me, no one captures the extraordinary underwater world of the ocean more beautifully—whether he is photographing the brilliant colours and teeming life of a coral reef or the cold, mysterious blue beneath the Antarctic ice. His images reveal a hidden world that feels vast, fragile and profoundly alive, making us see the ocean not as an empty expanse but as one of the most beautiful and miraculous realms on Earth.

I especially adore Doubilet’s split-level photographs, in which half the image lies above the water and half below. He has perfected this technique both technically and artistically, transforming the waterline into a threshold between two worlds—the familiar world of sky and land above and the secret universe beneath. I was introduced to his work when I attended a presentation he gave at the Sydney Opera House in 2014, and I was completely blown away. Seeing his images on that scale, while hearing the stories behind them from Doubilet himself, left an unforgettable impression on me.

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The artist at work, immersed in his medium

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Favourite photographers: Frank Hurly

Frank Hurley is one of my greatest inspirations as a photographer. He was the official photographer on Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated Endurance expedition to Antarctica, which became one of the greatest survival stories ever told and has inspired generations. Yet I often wonder whether the story would have retained quite the same power without Hurley’s photographs. Shackleton’s leadership and the endurance of his men were extraordinary, but Hurley gave their ordeal a face. His images allow us to enter their frozen world, turning an incredible historical account into something immediate, intimate and unforgettable.

It seems miraculous that the photographs survived at all. After the Endurance had been abandoned, Hurley returned to the flooded wreck and plunged into freezing, slushy water to retrieve his glass-plate negatives. He and Shackleton then selected 120 plates to carry with them and smashed roughly 400 others because their weight threatened the men’s survival. Hurley sealed the chosen negatives inside a soldered metal container and somehow protected them throughout the ordeal. Considering the enormous cameras, glass plates and other equipment he had to transport, it is astonishing how inventive he remained—climbing the ship’s rigging, venturing onto the ice and photographing from extraordinary angles to create images of breathtaking drama. 

His photographs captured far more than the Endurance trapped, splintering and finally being crushed by the ice. Hurley also recorded the exhausting work of pulling sledges and lifeboats, but he was equally attentive to the quieter life of the expedition: the men reading, playing music and whiling away the endless hours aboard ship; the friendships and humour that sustained them; and the huskies, seals and penguins that shared their strange white world. These beautiful, intimate images give the story its humanity. Hurley was not simply documenting an expedition—he was creating an extraordinary visual portrait of people living together at the very edge of survival.

My appreciation of Hurley was deepened by a presentation Sue and I attended at the State Library of New South Wales in 2016. It also connected profoundly with my own journey to Antarctica in 2013 as a photographer for Upschool. We sailed past Elephant Island, where 22 members of Shackleton’s crew endured four bleak months while he attempted to return and rescue them. Seeing that desolate, windswept place made their survival seem almost impossible. That all 28 members of the Endurance party eventually returned alive remains one of history’s most remarkable testaments to courage, resilience and extraordinary leadership—but it is Frank Hurley’s photographs that allow us to feel the story, rather than merely know it.

Photos Hurly took in Antarctica

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First World War

Hurley carried that same courage and visual imagination into the First World War, serving as an official Australian war photographer on the Western Front. His photographs captured the almost apocalyptic horror of battle—the shell-torn earth, blasted trees, endless mud, smoke and exhausted soldiers moving through landscapes stripped of life. Yet he never lost sight of the human beings caught within that devastation. He photographed soldiers resting, caring for the wounded and finding brief moments of companionship amid the terror. This combination of horror and humanity makes his war photography so powerful: he showed both the terrible destruction human beings can inflict and the courage, tenderness and comradeship that can survive even in the darkest circumstances.

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Other photos

Hurley’s restless curiosity later took him to Papua New Guinea, where he photographed its dramatic landscapes, remote communities and richly varied cultures, before turning his camera closer to home and creating an extensive record of Sydney—its harbour, beaches, architecture and rapidly changing cityscape. I find it wonderful that I have also been able to photograph two places that held such fascination for him: Antarctica and Sydney. They could hardly be more different, yet both are deeply special to me. Knowing that I have stood with my own camera in places where Hurley once searched for beauty, drama and human stories gives me an even stronger sense of connection with the photographer who has inspired me so greatly.

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Favourite photographers: Peter Eastway

Peter Eastway is one of Australia's leading landscape photographers, and I first got to know his work through Mosman Camera Club, where he gave several presentations over the years. I was struck not only by the quality of his photographs but also by his editing skills. He has a remarkable ability to get the very best out of an image, and I learned a great deal from watching him explain his workflow.

One of the highlights of my own photography journey was joining Peter on trip to the Arctic in 2022. It was a real privilege to photograph alongside someone whose work I respected so much. My favourite memory is the two of us lying on our backs at the foot of a cliff, cameras pointed straight up as we photographed the birds flying overhead. It was a sublime moment; one I'll always remember.

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With Peter in Svalbard

People who inspire me: Steve Jobs

I've long admired Steve Jobs, not just because he built one of the world's great companies, but because his ideas have influenced the way I think. I use Apple products every day, especially my MacBook Pro and iPhone, and I continue to be impressed by how intuitive, elegant and thoughtfully designed they are. Jobs understood that great technology isn't just about powerful features—it's about creating products that people genuinely enjoy using.

One of the lessons I value most from Steve Jobs is the power of focus. He believed that saying "no" to hundreds of good ideas was often more important than saying "yes" to a few great ones. In a world full of distractions, that's a principle I try to keep coming back to. I also admire his relentless pursuit of simplicity. He showed that making something simple is often much harder than making it complicated, and that great design begins with understanding the user's experience.

His life story is inspiring in its own right. Being forced out of the company he founded could have been the end of the story, but instead it became the beginning of one of the greatest comebacks in business history. He returned to Apple, transformed it from a struggling company into one of the most valuable businesses on Earth, and changed the way millions of people interact with technology. His vision, resilience and insistence on excellence continue to inspire me.

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I loved this biography about Steve jobs which I read in 2012.

Favourite quotes

• Don’t just live a life; build one.
• None of us are as creative as all of us.
• I’d rather be a Pirate than join the Navy.
• Do not try to do everything. Do one thing well.
• Follow your heart, but check it with your head.
• Innovation means saying ‘no’ to a thousand things.
• If you’re afraid of failing you won’t get very far.
• It isn’t the consumers’ job to know what they want.
• Focus does not mean saying yes, it means saying no.
• Details matter, it’s worth waiting to get it right.
• It takes a lot of hard work to make something simple.
• Our job is to read things that are not yet on the page.
• I hate the way people use PowerPoints instead of thinking.
• Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.
• Focus and simplicity…once you get there, you can move mountains.
• Don’t just follow your passion but something larger than yourself.
• If you define the problem correctly, you almost have the solution.
• Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.
• Let’s go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happened yesterday.
• The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.
• Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
• If you live each day as it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.
• Quality is much better than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.
• Listen to me. We’re here to make a dent in the universe. Otherwise why even be here?
• Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.
• You cannot mandate productivity, you must provide the tools to let people become their best.
• You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.
• Do you want to sell sugar water all your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?
• It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much.
• If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.
• It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.
• The greatest thing is when you do put your heart and soul into something over an extended period of time, and it is worth it.
• Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.
• What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with. It’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.
• Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful … that’s what matters to me.
• That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex; you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.
• You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to sell it.
• We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? So this is what we’ve chosen to do with our life.
• Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.
• You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
• Quotes on Wisdom Trove
• Life lessons

Favourite photographers: Nan Goldin

I first encountered Nan Goldin's work at an exhibition in Amsterdam in 1997, long before I ever took up photography myself. I still remember the impact it had on me. Her photographs didn't just catch my attention—they went straight through to something much deeper.

What I admire most is the honesty of her work. Her photographs are raw, intimate and completely unguarded. She invited us into her life and the lives of the people around her, capturing moments of love, vulnerability, joy, pain and everyday existence without trying to make them look prettier or more comfortable than they were. Looking at her portraits feels less like viewing photographs and more like being trusted with someone's private world.

Goldin reminds me that photography isn't only about creating beautiful images. It can also be about truth, empathy and genuine human connection. Her work showed me that some of the most powerful photographs are those that reveal something deeply authentic about the people in front of the camera. That lesson has stayed with me ever since.

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Nan Goldin

Favourite quotes

• I used to think that I could never lose anyone if I photographed them enough. In fact, my pictures show me how much I’ve lost.
• For me it is not a detachment to take a picture. It’s a way of touching somebody—it’s a caress, I think that you can actually give people access to their own soul.
• l do not take the pictures I have in my head; I experience things, and they become pictures.
• Every time I go through something scary, traumatic, I survive by taking pictures.
• Where is the line between life and photographing life?
• The camera is as much a part of my everyday life as talking or eating or sex.
• My desire is to preserve the sense of people’s lives, to endow them with the strength and beauty I see in them. I want the people in my pictures to stare back.
• My work is mostly about memory. It is very important to me that everybody that I have been close to in my life I make photographs of them.
• My photography has always been about trying to stave off loss: of people, places, experience, memory. Nowadays it’s also my form of safe sex. It’s a way for me to show people the admiration and love I feel for them.

Spectacular lighthouses around the world

As you can see, I'm completely hooked on lighthouses at the moment. What started as a photography project has quickly turned into another excuse to explore the world. Every lighthouse has its own story, shaped by the coastline, the weather and the people who built it. Some perch on impossibly narrow sea stacks, others stand alone on tiny islands or cling to dramatic cliffs where the ocean seems determined to reclaim them. Here are some of the most spectacular and unusual lighthouses I've discovered so far. 

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Favourite artists: Banksy

Banksy proves that art can be far more than something beautiful hanging on a gallery wall. His work is witty, provocative and deeply human, using simple, unforgettable images to challenge assumptions about war, consumerism, power, inequality and the absurdities of modern life. What I admire most is his ability to communicate profound ideas with remarkable clarity. A single stencil on a brick wall can spark conversations that books and speeches sometimes fail to inspire. He reminds us that great art doesn't just decorate the world—it awakens us to see it differently.

I also love the mystery that surrounds Banksy. By remaining anonymous, he has kept the focus where it belongs: on the work itself rather than the celebrity of the artist. There is something wonderfully subversive about creating priceless art in public spaces, freely accessible to anyone who walks past. Whether or not I agree with every message, I admire his courage, originality and refusal to play by the conventional rules of the art world. Banksy has shown that one person's creativity, imagination and sense of humour can capture the attention of millions while inviting us to question the world we so often take for granted.

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Favourite quotes

• Fight the fighters, not their wars.
• Speak softly, but carry a big can of paint.
• If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.
• You can win the rat race but you’re still a rat.
• People who enjoy waving flags don’t deserve to have one.
• Nobody ever listened to me until they didn’t know who I was.
• You don't need planning permission to build castles in the sky.
• I want to live in a world created by art, not just decorated with it.
• A wall is a very big weapon. It’s one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with.
• All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?
• I just want to make the world a better looking place. If you don't like it, you can paint over it!
• Graffiti's always been a temporary art form. You make your mark and then they scrub it off. Banksy
• If Michaelangelo or Leonardo Da Vinci were alive today they’d be making Avatar, not painting a chapel.
• When you go to an art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires.
• A recent survey or North American males found 42% were overweight, 34% were critically obese and 8% ate the survey.
• Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s okay. You’re here to live your life, not to make everyone understand.
• We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves.
• I don't know why people are so keen to put the details of their private life in public; they forget that invisibility is a superpower.
• I’d been painting rats for three years before someone said ‘that’s clever it’s an anagram of art’ and I had to pretend I’d known that all along.
• If you feel dirty, insignificant or unloved, then rats are a good role model. They exist without permission, they have no respect for the hierarchy of society, and they have sex 50 times a day.
• The human race is the most stupid and unfair kind of race. A lot of the runners don’t even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water. Some runners are born with a massive head start, every possible help along the way and still the referees seem to be on their side. It’s not surprising a lot of people have given up competing altogether and gone to sit in the grandstand, eat junk and shout abuse. What the human race needs is a lot more streakers.

Favourite photographers: Yann Arthus Bertrand

Yann Arthus-Bertrand has had a profound influence on the way I see both photography and the world itself. I still remember visiting his Earth from Above exhibition in London in 2001 and being completely blown away. Seeing the planet from the air revealed patterns, colours and landscapes that I had never imagined. It was one of those rare experiences that permanently changed the way I looked at the Earth.

What I especially love about Arthus-Bertrand's work is the idea that the world itself is a work of art. His photographs reveal a planet of astonishing beauty, where rivers, deserts, forests and mountains become abstract masterpieces when viewed from above. At the same time, his work carries a deeper message—that this beauty is precious and worth protecting. He reminds me that photography can do more than create beautiful images. It can awaken wonder, deepen our appreciation of the world, and encourage us to become better stewards of this extraordinary work of art that we call home.

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People who inspire me: Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein has always been one of the people I most admire. Of course, he revolutionised our understanding of the universe, but what draws me to him is something deeper than his scientific achievements. I love his insatiable curiosity, his childlike sense of wonder, and his willingness to embrace mystery rather than pretend to have all the answers. He reminds me that the greatest minds are often the most humble in the face of the unknown.

As someone who loves collecting quotes, many of my favourites are Einstein's. They reveal a side of him that is often overlooked—a man who was not only a brilliant scientist, but also a deeply philosophical and spiritual thinker. He understood that imagination, awe and mystery are essential parts of the human experience, and that science and spirituality need not be in conflict. His life is a reminder that the pursuit of truth is at its best when it is guided not only by intellect, but also by curiosity, humility and a profound sense of wonder.

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Favourite quotes

• Play is the highest form of research.
• Truth is what stands the test of experience.
• Any fool can know. The point is to understand.
• The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility.
• Everything should be as simple as possible but no simpler.
• I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
• The secret of creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.
• I want to know all Gods thoughts; all the rest are just details.
• The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion.
• Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
• Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
• Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
• The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.
• It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.
• Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.
• Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.
• If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.
• I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking.
• Two things are infinite, as far as we know – the universe and human stupidity.
• The process of scientific discovery is, in effect, a continual flight from wonder.
• We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us.
• Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.
• A great thought begins by seeing something differently, with a shift of the mind’s eye.
• We never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.
• No problem can be solved by the same consciousness that created it. We need to see the world anew.
• The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.
• If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.
• There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
• Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.
• The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
• The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out can.
• A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
• Quotes on Wisdom Trove
• Life lessons

People who inspire me: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt

Watching Ken Burns' documentary The Roosevelts gave me a completely new appreciation for Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. I came away deeply impressed not only by what they accomplished, but by the strength of character they displayed through extraordinary adversity. Franklin's determination after being paralysed by polio was remarkable. Rather than allowing it to define him, he developed an inner resilience that helped him lead the United States through both the Great Depression and the Second World War. His optimism, calmness and ability to inspire confidence during times of immense uncertainty made him one of the most consequential leaders of the twentieth century.

I was equally inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt. She was far more than a First Lady; she became one of the great advocates for human rights and social justice. Despite her own difficult upbringing and personal struggles, she dedicated her life to serving others and giving a voice to those who had been overlooked. What impressed me most about the Roosevelts was the way they complemented one another. Franklin provided visionary leadership at moments of national crisis, while Eleanor expanded the nation's moral vision through compassion and courage. Together they showed how resilience, purpose and service can leave a lasting impact on the world.

My favourite Eleanor Roosevelt quotes

• Do one thing every day that scares you.
• The purpose of life afterall is to live it.
• Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.
• Nothing we learn in this world is ever wasted.
• You must do the things you think you cannot do.
• Life has got to be lived – that’s all there is to it.
• It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
• No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
• To leave the world richer—that is the ultimate success.
• Life is what you make it. Always has been, always will be.
• I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday.
• If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.
• A little simplification would be the first step toward rational living, I think.
• A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.
• People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.
• Friendship with ones self is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.
• Do what you feel in your heart to be right- for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
• The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.
• Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively; unless you can choose a challenge instead of competence.
• One thing life has taught me: if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you. When you are genuinely interested in one thing, it will always lead to something else.
• You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’
• Eleanor Roosevelt quotes on Wisdom Trove

Favourite artists: Rembrandt

I've had a soft spot for Rembrandt ever since visiting the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 1997. The highlight was seeing The Night Watch in person. I'd seen photos of it before, but the scale and detail of the original are something else entirely. It's one of those artworks that's worth travelling to see.

What I admire most about Rembrandt is his ability to capture real people. His portraits feel honest and deeply human, and his mastery of light and shadow gives them incredible depth without ever feeling overdone. More than 350 years after his death, his paintings still have the power to stop people in their tracks. That's the mark of a truly great artist.

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Favourite quotes

• Without atmosphere a painting is nothing. Rembrandt
• Life etches itself onto our faces as we grow older, showing our violence, excesses or kindnesses. Rembrandt
• A painting is finished when the artist says it is finished. Rembrandt
• Choose only one master - Nature. Rembrandt
• Painting is the grandchild of nature. It is related to God. Rembrandt
• A painting is complete when it has the shadows of a god. Rembrandt

Favourite photographers: Heni Cartier-Bresson

Another of the photographers I admire most is Henri Cartier-Bresson. What appeals to me isn't just the beauty of his photographs, but the way he observed the world. He had an extraordinary ability to recognise the significance of an ordinary moment and capture it at exactly the right instant. His idea of the "decisive moment" reminds me that the difference between an ordinary photograph and a remarkable one often comes down to patience, awareness and timing.

I also appreciate that Cartier-Bresson didn't try to control or stage his subjects. He trusted life to provide the moment rather than trying to create it himself. His photographs have a naturalness and authenticity that still feels fresh today. Looking at his work encourages me to slow down, pay closer attention, and remember that some of the most compelling images come from simply being present and noticing what others might miss.

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Favourite quotes

• Photography is nothing-it’s life that interests me.
• Of all the means of expression, photography is the only one that fixes a precise moment in time.
• Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.
• Photography is like fencing. You must keep your distance, wait, and then thrust.
• To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.
• In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotiv.
• It is through living that we discover ourselves, at the same time as we discover the world around us.
• Photography is not documentary, but intuition, a poetic experience.
• To take photographs is putting one’s head, one’s eye, and one’s heart on the same axis.
• A photograph is neither taken or seized by force. It offers itself up. It is the photo that takes you. One must not take photos.
• We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.
• In every photographer there is something of a stroller.
• Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.

Favourite artists: Salvadore Dali

One of the artists I find most fascinating is Salvador Dalí. At first glance his paintings seem bizarre, almost dreamlike, but the longer I look at them the more they invite reflection. They challenge my assumptions about reality, time and identity, and remind me that the world we experience is not always as fixed or straightforward as it appears. His work rewards curiosity, revealing new details and meanings each time I return to it.

What I admire most is Dalí's imagination and technical brilliance. However strange his visions were, he painted them with extraordinary precision, making the impossible feel almost believable. His art encourages me to think beyond the obvious and to appreciate the power of symbolism and metaphor. In many ways, his paintings feel less like images to be understood and more like invitations to explore the deeper landscape of the mind.

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Favourite quotes

• I don’t need drugs. I am drugs.
• God is just another artist, like me.
• To be interesting, one has to provoke.
• I’m going to live forever. Geniuses don’t die.
• Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.
• God invented man, and man invented the metric system.
• Take me, I am the drug; take me, I am hallucinogenic.
• Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.
• People love mystery, and that is why they love my paintings.
• There are some days when I think I’m going to die from an overdose of satisfaction.
• Every morning when I awake, the greatest of joys is mine: that of being Salvador Dali.

• Quotes on Wisdom Trove
• Life lessons

Favourite photographers: Amsel Adams

One of the photographers I admire most is Ansel Adams. His landscapes have an extraordinary sense of clarity, scale and stillness. He had a remarkable ability to reveal the beauty of the natural world, not by exaggerating it, but by helping us see what was already there. His photographs remind me that nature is full of grandeur, subtlety and order if we take the time to look carefully.

What I appreciate most about Adams is the combination of artistry and craftsmanship. He was a master of light, composition and tonal range, creating images that feel both technically perfect and deeply emotional. His work inspires me not only to become a better photographer, but also to spend more time in wild places, slowing down and paying closer attention. His photographs are a reminder that some of life's greatest experiences come simply from being present in nature.

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Favourite quotes

• Photography is an austere and blazing poetry of the real.
• The camera is for life and for people, the swift and intense moments of life.
• When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.
• A good photograph is knowing where to stand.
• Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.
• I do not think there is any question of photography being an art form!
• Life is your art. An open, aware heart is your camera. A oneness with your world is your film. Your bright eyes and easy smile is your museum.
• The photographic negative is the equivalent of the composers score and the print is the equivalent of the conductor’s performance.
• I believe the world is incomprehensibly beautiful – an endless prospect of magic and wonder.
• I hope that my work will encourage self expression in others and stimulate the search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us.
• A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.
• There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.
• You don’t take a photograph, you make it.
• There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.
• No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.
• The whole world is, to me, very much “alive” – all the little growing things, even the rocks. I can’t look at a swell bit of grass and earth, for instance, without feeling the essential life – the things going on – within them. The same goes for a mountain, or a bit of the ocean, or a magnificent piece of old wood.

Favourite artists: Leonardo da Vinci

What fascinates me about Leonardo da Vinci is not just that he was a brilliant artist, but that he seemed endlessly curious about almost everything. Painting, anatomy, engineering, architecture, geology, flight - he approached each subject with the same desire to understand how the world really works. He reminds me that creativity and curiosity are inseparable, and that the most rewarding discoveries often happen at the intersection of different fields.

I also admire Leonardo's ability to combine scientific observation with artistic vision. He looked at nature with extraordinary care, believing that the closer we observe reality, the deeper our understanding becomes. His notebooks reveal someone who never stopped asking questions or seeking better ways of seeing. His life encourages me to remain curious, to keep learning, and to remember that the pursuit of understanding can be just as important as the answers themselves.

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Favourite quotes

• Art is never finished, only abandoned.
• Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
• The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.
• Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge.
• All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions.
• A beautiful body perishes, but a work of art dies not.
• Men of lofty genius when they are doing the least work are most active.
• Beyond a doubt truth bears the same relation to falsehood as light to darkness.
• Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory.
• My intention is to consult experience first, and then with reasoning show why such experience is bound to operate in such a way.
• Nature is the source of all true knowledge. She has her own logic, her own laws, she has no effect without cause nor invention without necessity.
• Quotes on Wisdom Trove
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Favourite artists: Michelangelo

Another of the artists I admire most is Michelangelo. His work combines an extraordinary level of technical mastery with a profound understanding of the human form. Whether in sculpture, painting or architecture, he had an unmatched ability to express strength, beauty and emotion. I still remember visiting Rome in 1996 and standing beneath the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for the first time. I was completely blown away. No photograph had prepared me for the scale, complexity and sheer brilliance of what he created.

What I find especially inspiring is the way Michelangelo seemed to see potential where others saw only raw stone. His famous idea that the sculpture already existed within the marble, and that his task was simply to reveal it, has always resonated with me. It feels like a powerful metaphor for life itself—that beneath the surface there is something waiting to be uncovered through patience, effort and vision. His work reminds me that great art is not only about skill, but about revealing something deeper that was there all along.

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Favourite quotes

• Beauty is the purgation of superfluities.
• My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth’s loveliness.
• The great tragedy of life is not that people set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but that they set their sights too low and do.
• If people knew how hard I worked at my art, they would not consider me a genius.
• If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.
• Perfection is no small thing, but it is made up of small things.
• The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
• No great work of art is ever finished.
• Art is a jealous thing; it requires the whole and entire man.
• I am still learning. (at age 87)
• Only God creates. The rest of us just copy.
• Art lives on constraint and dies of freedom. 
• Quotes on Wisdom Trove
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Favourite artists: Monet

Claude Monet changed the way I look at the natural world. Rather than trying to paint every detail, he captured something more elusive—the quality of light, atmosphere and the feeling of a particular moment. His paintings remind me that what makes a scene beautiful is often not the objects themselves, but the way light transforms them. Looking at his work encourages me to slow down and notice those fleeting moments that are so easily overlooked.

What I especially appreciate is Monet's ability to find endless inspiration in familiar places. He returned to the same subjects again and again—the haystacks, the water lilies, Rouen Cathedral—not because they were unchanged, but because the light was never the same twice. That way of seeing has had a real influence on my photography. It reminds me that I don't need to travel to extraordinary places to create meaningful images. There is endless inspiration in the familiar if I return often enough, pay close attention, and learn to see each scene with fresh eyes.

  

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Favourite quotes

• I want to paint the way a bird sings.
• My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.
• It’s on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly.
• Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.
• For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life – the light and the air which vary continually.
• I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.
• It is extraordinary to see the sea; what a spectacle! She is so unfettered that one wonders whether it is possible that she again become calm.
• It seems to me, when I see nature, that I see it ready made, completely written.
• My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature.
• I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.
• Quotes on Wisdom Trove
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Favourite artists: Picasso

Pablo Picasso fascinates me because he refused to see the world in conventional ways. He was never content simply to reproduce what the eye could already see. Instead, he explored different perspectives, broke familiar forms apart, and rebuilt them into something entirely new. His work reminds me that creativity often begins by questioning assumptions rather than accepting them.

What I admire most is Picasso's willingness to keep evolving throughout his life. He constantly experimented, took risks, and reinvented his style instead of repeating what had already made him successful. That commitment to exploration is deeply inspiring. It encourages me to stay curious, to keep learning, and to remember that growth often comes from having the courage to look at familiar things from a completely different perspective.

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Favourite quotes

• Art is a leap into the dark.
• We don’t grow older we grow riper.
• Everything you can imagine is real.
• It takes a long time to become young.
• Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.
• Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.
• Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.
• Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.
• I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.
• Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.
• Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.
• We are all born children- the trick is remaining one.
• Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
• It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction.
• I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else.
• Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
• If only we could pull out our brain and use only our eyes.
• What I want is that my picture should evoke nothing but emotion.
• Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.
• What I capture in spite of myself interests me more than my own ideas.
• The important thing is to create. Nothing else matters; creation is all.
• A plagiarist steals from one person. A true artist steals from everybody.
• We now know that Art is not the truth… but rather a way of approaching the truth.
• Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.
• The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.
• It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.
• If there were only one truth, you couldn’t paint a hundred canvases on the same theme.
• If I paint a wild horse, you might not see the horse… but surely you will see the wildness!
• The first half of life is learning to be an adult-the second half is learning to be a child.
• He can who thinks he can, and he can’t who thinks he can’t. This is an inexorable, indisputable law.
• There is only one way to see things, until someone shows us how to look at them with different eyes.
• One never knows what one is going to do. One starts a painting and then it becomes something quite different.
• I don’t know in advance what I am going to put on canvas any more than I decide beforehand what colours I am going to use.
• My mother said to me, ‘If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.’ Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.
• Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.
• Paintings are but research and experiment. I never do a painting as a work of art. All of them are researches. I search constantly and there is a logical sequence in all this research.
• To finish a work? To finish a picture? What nonsense! To finish it means to be through with it, to kill it, to rid it of its soul, to give it its final blow the coup de grace for the painter as well as for the picture.

• Quotes on Wisdom Trove
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Favourite artists: Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's paintings always leave me with a sense of warmth and joy. He had an extraordinary ability to capture the beauty of everyday life—friends talking, families gathering, children playing, people enjoying a meal or an afternoon outdoors. His work reminds me that life's most meaningful moments are often the simplest ones, and that ordinary human experiences can be deeply beautiful.

What I appreciate most is the sense of light and humanity that runs through his paintings. His subjects feel alive, relaxed and connected, never posed or distant. Looking at his work encourages me to notice those same moments in my own life and photography—the shared smile, the quiet conversation, the warmth of sunlight on people simply enjoying being together. Renoir reminds me that beauty is not only found in dramatic landscapes or extraordinary events, but also in the richness of everyday human life.

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Favourite quotes

• It’s with my brush that I make love.
• Religion is everywhere. It is in the mind, in the heart, in the love you put into what you do.
• The work of art must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself, carry you away. 
• I arrange my subject as I want it, then I go ahead and paint it, like a child.
• One must from time to time attempt things that are beyond one’s capacity.
• You come to nature with all her theories, and she knocks them all flat.
• Go and see what others have produced, but never copy anything except nature. To be an artist you must learn the laws of nature.
• The pain passes, but the beauty remains.
• Quotes on Wisdom Trove
• Life lessons