Just because a picture is unusually low in tone, it is not necessarily pictorial. - Arthur Hammond

A small but noticeable patch of contrasting light or dark tone would more correctly be described as an accent than as a mass, and it will be found that, as a rule, an accent is needed to prevent a picture from becoming monotonous and uninteresting.

...the accuracy of the lens is often regarded as infallible, whereas, from the artistic standpoint, a lens is less accurate than the trained eye.

The treatment of the subject is considered to be more important than the subject itself.