The true power of the photograph does not lie in the camera’s ability to extract a completely organized image from circumambient events. Such images can be made, but either they have the character of happy flukes, or else they tend to suffer from a stifling lack of spontaneity. What the camera does is simply to halt the flow of time at a chosen moment. If these moments are well picked, they take on an emblematic significance. In particular, the camera responds with perfect obedience to the subconscious mind of the man who uses it, and brings any obsessional element in the personality of the photographer to the surface, whether he intends this or not. This is why certain photographers deal with one category of subject-matter supremely well, while producing hum-drum work on all other occasions.