Every work of art is offered to the viewer as unfinished and incomplete; upon reception the viewers themselves create; they fill in the blanks left by the artist.

Beauty is not something that exists in things, but something that is perceived from them. The property of beauty does not belong to things, but is bestowed upon them. It is perception, in other words, that creates beauty– it is not found in the world, but only inspired by it. No sunset or landscape is beautiful in and of itself. We could only assume that other animals are awe-struck by the colors of a sunset, and certainly a stone would have nothing to say of a starry night’s sky. Flowers do not know or feel themselves beautiful, and the only reason they become so is through a viewer’s perceptions and judgment.

What is considered beautiful depends to a great extent on taste. Since perception is what makes a thing beautiful, though, one can say that those with finer perceptions and greater sensibilities have access to realms of beauty invisible to others.

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“Of course. What I know bores me. You know, you get into the business of commercial photography, and that’s all you do is photograph what you know. That’s what you’re hired for. And it’s very easy to make successful photographs—-it’s very easy. I’m a good craftsman and I can have this particular intention: let’s say, I want a photograph that’s going to push a certain button in an audience, to make them laugh or love, feel warm or hate or what—I know how to do this. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do that, to make successful photographs. It’s a bore. I certainly never wanted to be a photographer to bore myself. It’s no fun– life is too short.” (Gary Winogrand, ASX, INTERVIEW: “Monkeys Make the Problem More Difficult – A Collective Interview with Garry Winogrand” (1970))