Writing Cannot Be Done In A State

The ‘i’ Character In Journalism Is Almost Pure Invention. Unlike The ‘i’ Of Autobiography, Who Is Meant To Be Seen As A Representation Of The Writer, The ‘i’ Of Journalism Is Connected To The Writer Only In A Tenuous Way—the Way, Say, That Superman Is Connected To Clark Kent. The Journalistic ‘i’ Is An Overreliable Narrator, A Functionary To Whom Crucial Tasks Of Narration And Argument And Tone Have Been Entrusted, An Ad Hoc Creation, Like The Chorus Of Greek Tragedy. He Is An Emblematic Figure, An Embodiment Of The Idea Of The Dispassionate Observer Of Life.

[richard Avedon's] Camera Dwells On The Horrible Things That Age Can Do To People's Faces - On The Flabby Flesh, The Slack Skin, The Ugly Growths, The Puffy Eyes, The Knotted Necks, The Aimless Wrinkles, The Fearful And Anxious Set Of The Mouth, The Marks Left By Sickness, Madness, Alcoholism, And Irreversible Disappointment.

All Analyses End Badly. Each 'termination' Leaves The Participants With The Taste Of Ashes In Their Mouths; Each Is Absurd; Each Is A Small, Pointless Death. Psychoanalysis Cannot Tolerate Happy Endings; It Casts Them Off The Way The Body's Immunological System Casts Off Transplanted Organs.

[the] Arresting Of Time Is Photography's Unique Capacity, And The Decision Of When To Click The Shutter Is The Photographer's Chief Responsibility.

The Writer, Like The Murderer, Needs A Motive.