"That which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art. (...) One might generalize by saying: the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence."

- Walter Benjamin (1892-1940)

Source: Benjamin, Walter. Printed in: Harrison & Wood. Art in Theory. 1900-2000. An Anthology Of Changing Ideas. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Originally published in the Frankfurt Institute journal (operating in exile in the United States), Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung, V, no. 1, New York, 1936. English translation by Harry Zohn in H. Arendt (ed), Walter benjamin, illuminations, London, 1973, pp. 219-53.