"Photography is not a pursuit — it is a medium. It is a medium that can be used in service of a larger idea. The great photographers invariably have a Great Mission. Circling back to my original list of masters, Evans’ great mission was the architecture of inspiration; Stieglitz’ great mission was bringing modern art to the masses; Weston’s great mission was using photography to explore the world and his place in it; Adams’ was at heart a conservationist with a camera; Minor White was a Zen enthusiast who used photography to immerse himself in the Eternal Now, etc. Each of the great masters of photography had, at their core, something they were trying to do or say — and photography was simply their medium of choice."

— Brooks Jensen