Melancholy is an integral part of the American West. Photography does have spiritual links with the “end of the world,” more than film. Nicholas Ray once told me the advice he gave actors he was training. He’d say, “Even if you’re only asking for a light, even if you’re only saying good day, you have to do it as if you thought it could be the last time.” That idea impressed me. The way I see it, it’s a vital part of photography, seeing something and recording it as if it were the last possible chance to do so. To my mind, that’s the “end of the world” side of photography. But there’s a converse too, which is that then a photo exists, which perpetuates the existence of the world. 


via blackbook