50 Photography Quotes to Inspire You
50 Photography Quotes to Inspire You
Patrick Downs faves:
"Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.” – Imogen Cunningham
"In my view you cannot claim to have seen something until you have photographed it." – Emile Zola
"Photography is a love affair with life." – Burk Uzzle
“A photographer is someone for whom photography is more difficult than it is for other people.” – Thomas Mann (paraphrased)
“I am a photographer in the way you might be a plumber. I like it that way.” – the great and humble photojournalist Bruce Davidson
"Stare. It’s the way to educate your eyes. Pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." – Walker Evans
“Tasting life 1/125th of a second.” – Marc Riboud
"If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff." – Jim Richardson
"At first glance a photograph can inform us. At second glance it can reach us." – Minor White
“One of these days, I'm going to publish a book of all the pictures I did not take. It is going to be a huge hit!” – René Burri
"It's one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like. It's another thing to make a portrait of who they are." ~ Paul Caponigro
“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” – Ansel Adams
“F/8 and be there.” – Anonymous
“Let the world change your composition.” – Paul Meyers
"You have to see it to shoot it." – David Hume Kennerly
"If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you're not out there, you'll only hear about it." – Jay Maisel
“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
“If your photos aren’t good enough, then you’re not close enough” – Robert Capa
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” – Elliott Erwitt
“It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.” – Alfred Eisenstaedt
"One of these days, I'm going to publish a book of all the pictures I did not take. It is going to be a huge hit." – Rene Burri
“There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
"The instrument is not the camera, but the photographer." – Eve Arnold
"If you are not willing to see more than is visible, you won't see anything." – Ruth Bernhard
"In photography, the two words I like most are "simplicity" and "authenticity." – Yann Arthus-Bertrand
“I love the people I photograph. I mean, they’re my friends. I’ve never met most of them or I don’t know them at all, yet through my images I live with them.” – Bruce Gilden
A favorite quote, by poet Jack Kerouac about photographer Robert Frank and his epic book "The Americans" — "Anybody doesn’t like these pitchers don’t like poetry, see? Anybody don’t like potry go home see television shots of big hatted cowboys being tolerated by kind horses. Robert Frank, Swiss, unobtrusive, nice, with that little camera that he raises and snaps with one hand he sucked a sad poem right out of America onto film, taking rank among the poets of the world. To Robert Frank I now give this message: You got eyes."
Patrick Downs faves:
"Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.” – Imogen Cunningham
"In my view you cannot claim to have seen something until you have photographed it." – Emile Zola
"Photography is a love affair with life." – Burk Uzzle
“A photographer is someone for whom photography is more difficult than it is for other people.” – Thomas Mann (paraphrased)
“I am a photographer in the way you might be a plumber. I like it that way.” – the great and humble photojournalist Bruce Davidson
"Stare. It’s the way to educate your eyes. Pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." – Walker Evans
“Tasting life 1/125th of a second.” – Marc Riboud
"If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff." – Jim Richardson
"At first glance a photograph can inform us. At second glance it can reach us." – Minor White
“One of these days, I'm going to publish a book of all the pictures I did not take. It is going to be a huge hit!” – René Burri
"It's one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like. It's another thing to make a portrait of who they are." ~ Paul Caponigro
“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” – Ansel Adams
“F/8 and be there.” – Anonymous
“Let the world change your composition.” – Paul Meyers
"You have to see it to shoot it." – David Hume Kennerly
"If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you're not out there, you'll only hear about it." – Jay Maisel
“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
“If your photos aren’t good enough, then you’re not close enough” – Robert Capa
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” – Elliott Erwitt
“It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.” – Alfred Eisenstaedt
"One of these days, I'm going to publish a book of all the pictures I did not take. It is going to be a huge hit." – Rene Burri
“There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
"The instrument is not the camera, but the photographer." – Eve Arnold
"If you are not willing to see more than is visible, you won't see anything." – Ruth Bernhard
"In photography, the two words I like most are "simplicity" and "authenticity." – Yann Arthus-Bertrand
“I love the people I photograph. I mean, they’re my friends. I’ve never met most of them or I don’t know them at all, yet through my images I live with them.” – Bruce Gilden
A favorite quote, by poet Jack Kerouac about photographer Robert Frank and his epic book "The Americans" — "Anybody doesn’t like these pitchers don’t like poetry, see? Anybody don’t like potry go home see television shots of big hatted cowboys being tolerated by kind horses. Robert Frank, Swiss, unobtrusive, nice, with that little camera that he raises and snaps with one hand he sucked a sad poem right out of America onto film, taking rank among the poets of the world. To Robert Frank I now give this message: You got eyes."