Eve Arnold’s photographs of divorcing couples, including A Reason to Say Sorry, are a secular modern depiction of hell, as much moral statements as Fra Angelico’s The Pains of Hell.
For most of human history, artists were expected to make works of art, but not to decide what those works would be about. In the West, the agenda of art was to glorify the Christian message. All artists were given the same pre-prepared themes and invited to do their best. There was still room for individual greatness, but it was held in check (or sometimes even enhanced) by a set of shared parameters.
