"David Hockney's diaries are his collection of photo albums, filled with photos of his friends and travels. Thumbing through them, he discusses how they serve not only as a record of the past, but as a starting point for many of his paintings. 'I am an amateur photographer. I've filled fifty-two photo albums since 1962. But a lens is not as good as a pair of eyes... If you know how to use your eyes, you can see beyond the camera lens, then jiggle with what you see, which the camera cannot do.' Hockney's comments, made in 1971, provide a glimpse into the thought processes behind his early paintings and drawings; with the benefit of hindsight, they also provide an interesting insight into his evolution from using photos as a source for compositional elements to his current work with photographic collages, in which he combines related photos to represent the act of perception." Kathy Geritz