Quotes from the book Hockney On Photography: Conversations With Paul
Joyce , Jonathan Cape Ltd, London, 1988.
"There is a difference between scientific representation and artistic
representation, and that difference is the hand. The hand and the eye and
the heart are coming together. It's clear, now, to me . It opens up a new
way of seeing which will make us realize that the world does look quite
different. And in that sense it's a bit mind-blowing, isn't it?"
"Perspective is only a theoretical abstraction. It is not true to life, no
matter what we say. Perspective depends on a fixed point, but if you try to
walk up to that point you'd never get there. It's like the end of the
rainbow."
"We have not conquered reality at all. The idea that the photograph is
representing it has to be attacked. I'm deeply convinced of that."
"[A] flat surface is a very mysterious thing. Very simple, yet very
mysterious. What you can do on a flat surface is amazing."
"The joiners ultimately make the camera a drawing instrument, and so you
are back to drawing as a very important thing. Whereas the camera was seen as
the destroyer of drawing, wasn't it? Now that was a mistake."
"They now have movies which use computer-made landscapes, and they say look
real! They are only real in the context of the perspective picture we are used
to. We must use the computer another way."
"A two-dimensional surface is incredibly fascinating because you can put more
and more dimensions into it. It has always fascinated me and it must be the
same with anyone who makes pictures."