Nonetheless, White's photographs were not casually posed; he carefully controlled every detail in his scenes, sometimes even having special costumes created for his models. He saw in his mind exactly what he wanted and then made it happen through his camera. It's been said that "White is most significant in the history of photography because, in his early years, he redefined the nature of picture-making, creating a distinctly modern idiom for his own time…. He reduced his compositions to very simple elements of form, and by experimenting with principles of design derived largely from Whistler and Japanese prints, he created a person style that was unique for photography.