To know ahead of time what you’re looking for means you’re then only photographing your own preconceptions, which is very limiting, and often false.
—Dorothea Lange
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As a fan of Dorothea Lange’s photography, I was very open to her take on what an artist– in her case, a photographer– is seeking. I’ve written a lot here over the years about searching for something in my work but what that thing is, quite honestly, I do not know. I know that it is not something I can find without releasing a lot of myself including my fears and preconceptions.
Lange’s idea of preconceptions being limiting is one that rings very true to me, coinciding with my constant chorus that painting is best done without thought, without having an idea of where it might end up. Preconceptions create expectations and these too are limiting. The best work often comes when there are no expectations and no idea of what I am trying to accomplish. Well, it holds true for my painting, at least.
Her idea ( and mine, I suppose) of searching is so devoid of planning or purpose that it actually reminds me of Picasso‘s thoughts on searching: I have never had time for the idea of searching. Whenever I wanted to express something, I did so without thinking of the past or the future.
They both very much say the same thing but in differing ways.
And I agree with both.
Redtree Times 
It’s the difference between searching browsing on the internet. To search, you have to have something already in mind, and those search terms necessarily limit what’s found. Browsing? Link-hopping? You can land in some very unexpected and interesting places.
I think Lange’s nailed it — not only for art, but for life. To get up in the morning already sure of what the day will hold is akin to putting on blinders. What else is out there to be seen and experienced, won’t be.
Lange’s comment reminds me of the proverbial bear. He didn’t go over the mountain to get to the other side. He went out to see what he could see.
Searching is more important than finding. Searching ensures that the eye is focused outward. You find something and you say, “OK, there’s that” and you keep looking. What you are looking for is, of course, yourself, which you can only find by looking through it at the world. The self is the lens through which we see the world.