A photograph for myself

"It was then that it all began. I had taken a photograph for myself, whereas before I never dared unless asked to do so. If you go to the ball, you have to dance... the ball was outside, the ball was everywhere, the ball was still going on, and it was anywhere that I wanted it to be, and it was up to me to take the floor, to take photographs, and long live freedom! I followed the rhythm of freedom, with or without music, and for pleasure, the pleasure of seeing even before the pleasure of taking the photograph, one can exist without the other and in any case I've always known that I haven't seen anything until I've seen beyond appearances. I've always known that I have to close my eyes before opening them and that when my eyes made choices, it was no longer completely my own: it was younger than I was, it was seeing for the first time, it was discovering what I already knew in my soul and unconscious mind. I've always known that I didn't know what I was looking for, that the quest was more important than the prize, that this was enough to keep me going and that I only had to put one foot in front of the other, moving in funny circles, feeling as if I am always turning rather than going forwards"
Sarah Moon, photographer.

I found this yesterday in a book I bought on Sarah Moon's work. She was my favourite photographer when I was young and she still is. I love this quote, it puts many things I have been thinking about into a better perspective.