Photography (favourite quotes)

* If u don't know painting, opt for photography.

* A photograph is the shortest movie in the world with the photographer as its director.

* Photography is the finest diplomacy.

* A photograph can be a visual delight, ornamental, statement, report, record, inspirational, abstract art, ilustrative, insightful...

* Paintings are created, photographs are received.

* In painting, we give, in photography we receive.

* What camera would it be if you did not know what camera it was?

* A photograph is a still documentary.

* My job is to click. Interpretation I leave to u.

* Camera taught me the art of silence!

* I prefer zoom photography where I can afford to be at a sufficient distance from the subject for absolutely natural shot.

* I use mobile camera to practice composition which often gets hijacked by technology of sophisticated cameras.

* The best part of a portrait is the expressive and all-revealing eyes.

* If the photograph has done its job, technicals don't really matter!

* A photographer is a salesperson who sells his concept.

* What I lack in equipment, I make up in ability.

* Stare silently at a photograph for undisturbed 15 seconds. If the picture starts communicating to ur mind, it's a good photograph.

* A photograph can be taken in 100 ways. Photographer's composition makes the difference!

* Photography is the art of seeing!

* To see something in something, u need to focus ur mind!

* A photograph is not a complete truth.It is only partial truth; and hence very dangerous!

* Every photographer, in effect, is a photojournalist.

* Photographying is living!

* Choose the angle and composition which shows good thing good and bad thing bad!

* Each photograph reveals the photographer a bit more!

* Photo-therapy!!!

* "look at this from my point-of-view"

* A photograph is photographer's p.o.v.

* A photograph is photograher's signature!

* Photography helps people to see. (Berenice Abbott)

* Your mind is like a live camera that is constantly taking picture. (David Acuna)

* Not everyone trusts paintings but people believe photographs. (Ansel Adams)

* 12 significant photographs in any one year is a good crop! (Ansel Adams)

* A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words. (Ansel Adams)

* A good photograph is knowing where to stand. (Ansel Adams)

* A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into. (Ansel Adams)

* Photograph - A picture painted by the sun without instruction in art. (Ambrose Bierce)

* No place is boring, if you've had a good night's sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film. (Robert Adams)

* When u photograph people in colour, u photograph their clothes, but when u photograph people in B&W, u photograph their souls. (Ted Grant)

* There are always 2 people in every picture - the photographer and the viewer! (Ansel Adams)

* The camera can photograph thought. (Dirk Bogarde)

* I think the best pictures are often on the edges of any situation...& nothing is as interesting as photographing the edges. (William Albert Allard)

* A photograph is memory in the raw. (Carrie Latet)

* Photographers are more of hunters than cooks! (Henri Cartier Bresson)

* All photos are accurate.None of them is the truth. (Richard Avedon)

* A picture is worth a thousand words. (Anonymous)

* When people ask what equipment I use - I tell them my eyes. (Anonymous)

* A photograph reveals the photographer. (Anonymous)

* Amateur talks about the equipment. Professionals talk about photos. (Anonymous)

* Photograph is one of the most universal languages around and u don't have to say a word! (Anonymous)

* If you have to explain a good photograph, it isn't that good!

* Every time someone tells me how sharp my photos are, I assume that it isn't a very interesting photograph. It it was, they would have more to say. (Anonymous)

* One picture can change your life. (Movie - City of God)

* I hate photos. They speak too much! (Anonymous)

* Write with a sound and think with an image. (Aristotle)

* You can't make a great musician or a great photographer if the magic isn't there. (Eve Arnold)

* The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transoform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking. (Brooks Atkinson)

* "Does it interest the eye, excite the brain, move the mind to reflection, & involve the heart?" (Julian Barnes - on a good photograph)

* The photographic image...is a message without a code - Roland Barthes

* Too many photographers try too hard. They try to lift photography into the realm of art, because they have an inferiority complex about their craft. You and I would see more interesting photograph if they would stop worrying, and instead, apply horse-sense to the problem of recording the look & feel of their own era. (Jessie Tarbox Beats)

* You can observe a lot by just watching. (Yogi Berra)

* A good photograph has a direct simplicity without recourse to dazzling technique. (Israelis Bidermanas)

* My native language is Dutch, my second is photography. (Lieve Blanckaert)

* There are two types of photographers. Those who take pictures and those who make pictures. (Camille Bonzani)

* Never take away your subject's dignity. (Bernie Boston)

* If you want to photograph a man spinning, give some thought to why he spins. (Margaret Bourke)

* With all the arguments and discussions about the vietnam war, what did the visual image do? It ended the war! (Cornell Capa)

* In portrait I am looking for the silence in somebody. (Henri Cartier)

* Your first 10000 photographs are your worst. (Henri Cartier)

* As photojournalists we supply information to a world that is overwhelmed with pre-occupations and full of people who need the company of images...we pass judgement on what we see, and this involves an enormous responsibility. (Henri Cartier)

* To see a colour is a delight for the eye but to see in B&W is a delight for the soul. (AndriClaudwell)

* When u start showing ur work to others, the purity of the art diminshes. You do pure art for yourself. (Evan Clarke)

* My aim in photography is always to convey a mood & not to impart local information. (Alvin Langdon Coburn)

* A true photographer is as rare as a true poet or a true painter. (Jean Cocteau)

* A photographer must be free of his psychic & emotional baggage. (Allan Douglas)

* Beauty is in the eye of the cheque book holder. (Dean Collins)

* Everything has it's beauty, but not everyone sees it. (Confucius)

* We see nothing till we truely understand it. (John Constable)

* I don't watcha photo...I read it. (Massimo Conti)

* A painter works with colour as the medium, a photographer works with light. (Carlotta M)

* I love taking pictures because it's an instant art. (Dave Davidson)

* The absolute worst thing a person can say about your picture is, "That's nice." It's the kiss of death. (Joe Di Maggio)

* Go for the gut. Make a strong statement. Challenge your viewers' intellect & sensitivities. When poeple love it or people hate it, then you know that it works. (Joe DiMaggio)

* Some of the best photography I have ever seen has come from the eyes, heart and souls of amateur photographers. They do it for all the right reasons and none of the wrong ones. (Joe DiMaggio)

* If you take photographs, don't speak, don't write, don't analyse yourself, and don't answer any questions. (Robert Doisnear)

* Unless a picture shocks, it's nothing. (Marcel Duchamp)

* What we do during our working hours determines what we have: what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are. (George Eastman)

* To me technique is not that important. (Albert Eisenstaedt)

* I always prefer photographing in available light so you get the natural modulations of the face. It makes a more real, alive & flattering portrait. (Albert Eisensteadt)

* I seldom think when I take a picture. My eyes and fingures react-click.But first, it's most important to decide the angle at which your photograph is to be taken. (Albert Eisenstaedt)

* In a photograph a person's eyes tell much, sometimes they tell all. (Alfred Eisenstaedt)

* Yes I sold buttons to earn a living. But I took pictures to keep on living. (Alfred Eisenstaedt)

* Once the amateur's naive approach and humble willingness to learn fades away, the creative spirit of good photography dies with it. Every professional should remain always in his heart an amateur. (Alfred Eisenstaedt)

* Keep it simple. (Alfred Eisenstaedt)

* Every artist was first an amateur. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

* I think what makes a picture is a moment that is completely spontaneous and natural and unaffected by the photographer. (Bill Eppridge)

* The whole point of taking pictures is so that u don't have to explain things with words. (Elliot Erwitt)

* I want pictures that are emotional. (Elliot Erwitt)

* Photography is not a race or a competition. Don't make a noise about it. It is soulful silent music for the soul. Just enjoy it in private domain.

* Good photograph is in effect, a fine observation. (Elliot Erwitt)

* My absolute conviction is that if you are working reasonably well the only important thing is to keep shooting. (Elliot Erwitt)

* It's how u organise, what u see into a picture, that's important. (Elliot Erwitt)

* The camera cannot lie but it can be an accessory to untruth. (Harold Evans)

* If you want to make good photographs, a camera has to be a second nature to you. Devoting too much attention to technical decisions can interfere with ur creative process. (Robert Farber)

* The things under ur nose invariably look good when blown up really big. (Andreas Feininger)

* Always study a 3D subject with one eye closed. (Andreas Feininger)

* Before you shoot an irresistable subject, mute all your senses except sight to find out how much is left for the camera to record. (Andreas F.)

* What matters is not what u photograph, but why and how u photograph it. (Andreas F.)

* A technically perfect photograph can be the world's most boring picture. (Andreas F.)

* When I photograph, I always look for people who are absorbed in something. (Susie Fitzhugh)

* I would much rathermve people than shock them. There's only a value to 'shock' if you've something worth being shocking about. (Julian Flynn)

* You should make photographs with your heart, mind, eyes and soul. The capture device is simply there (to help you). (Bill Frakes)

* If my photograph leaves an image on the viewer's mind - something has been accomplished. (Robert Frank)

* The truth and beauty are often to be found lurking in apparently vulger and stereotyped phenomena. I am also aware that the smaller the object the more one is happy to gaze upon it. (Tamotsu Fuji)

* When u photograph a face, you photograph the soul behind it. (Jean Luc Godard)

* Be careful when choosing your teacher. If you have real talent you might not need one. (Misha Gordon)

* Alway shoot from the shadow side. (Ted Grant)

* The most important legs u have is your legs. (Ernst Haas)

* I am not interested in shooting new things. I am interested in seeing things new. (Ernst Haas)

* The camera doesn't make a bit of difference. All of them can record what u r seeing. But you HAVE to see. (Ernst Haas)

* ...man learns while he sees amd what he learns influences what he sees. (Edward Hall)

* Head of the photgrapher is more important than his camera. (Philippe Halsman)

* The immortal photographers will be straight forward photographers, those who do not rely on tricks or special techniques. (Philippe H.)

* The word "photography" can be interpreted as "writing with light" or "drawing with light". (Philippe H.)

* It is more often the good psychologist rather than the good photographer who makes good portraits. (Philippe H.)

* I'm only in it for the exposure. (Eric Hands)

* A photograph is a collision between a person with a camera and reality. (Charles Harbutt)

* Photographs should be symbolic rather than descriptive. (Eric Hartmann)

* Don't shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like. (David Alan Harvey)

* "Quite pictures" are like crossword puzzles. But some people don't like crossword puzzles because it forces them to think. (James Lalropni Keivom)

* A photograph draws its beauty from the truth with which it is marked. For this very reason I refuse all tricks of the trade & professional virtuosity which could make me betray my Canon. As soon as I find a subject which interests me, I leave it to the lens to record truthfully. (Andre Kertesz)

* I have to shoot three cassettes of films a day, even when not ‘photographing’, in order to keep the eye in practice. (Josef Koudelka)

* My work is about making candy for the eyes. It’s about grabbing your attention. (David La Chapelle)

* The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera. (Dorothea Lange)

* Pick a theme and work it to exhaustion…the subject must be something you truly love or truly hate. (Dorothea Lange)

* If a photograph stirs the emotions in atleast one person, that makes it art. This includes the person who clicked the shutter. (Henri A.Lundh)

* The camera should be like the notebook of a trained reporter. (Stefan Lorant)

* The only thing that makes a good photo is if you like the photo. (Andrew Maclean)

*Giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like putting a live grenade in the hands of a child. (Norman Mailer)

*Finding the subject is the hardest part. The subject gives you the best idea of how to make a photograph. So I just wait for something to happen. (Mary Ellen Mark)

*I photograph things I want to look at a little longer. (Gunnie Moberg)

*Don’t shoot until you feel it in your gut. (Lisetle Model)

*Generally speaking, I’m not one to advocate photographic rules, but I do think it helps to off the lens cap. (Catherine Jo Morgan)

* The longer I’ve been photographing, the more I want to simplify my tools and materials. That way I can better concentrate on the images I’m trying to make. (Catherine Jo Morgan)

*Never see nothing, always see something. (Walter De Mulder)

*There is no dividing line between adventure and photography. (Chris Noble)

*Wait a minute – I’m a journalist…I don’t take sides, I take pictures. (Nick Nolte)

*Photography is an art richer in surprise than painting. (Andre Breton)

*Photography is a literature of light. (Moses Oliver)

*Let the pictures do the talking. (Ken Oosterbroek)

*Being a photographer is making people look at what I want them to look at. (Ruth Orkin)

*In black & white u suggest, in colour you state. Much can be implied by suggestion, but statement demands certainty…absolute certainty. (Paul Outer)

*36 satisfactory exposures on a roll means a photographer is not trying anything new. (Freeman Patterson)

* An effective photograph is a good photograph. (Irving Penn)

*Photography for me is an exciting & personal way of reacting to and commenting on one’s environment & I feel that it is perhaps a great pity that more people don’t consider it as a medium of self-expression. (Tony Ray Jones)

*I make images for the hard of hearing. (Dominic Rouse)

*A room hung with pictures is a room hung with thoughts. (Sir Joshua Reynolds)

*The most successful photographs are not those that required the most trouble. (Carlo Rim)

*Your equipment doesn’t affect the quality of your image. The less time & effort you spend worrying about your equipment the more time and effort you can spend creating great images. (Ken Rockwell)

*Memory demands an image. (Bertrand Russel)

*I don’t want anyone to appreciate the light or the palette of tones. I want my pictures to inform, to provide discussion. (Sebastiao Salgado)

*I hate nothing more than sugary photographs with tricks, poses and effects. So allow me to be hionest. (August Sander)

*The still must tease with the promise of a story the viewer of it itches to be told. (Cindy Sherman)

*I believe the photographs should be simple technically, and easy to look at. They shouldn’t be directed at other photographers. (Lord Snowdon)

*The camera is just a box. What’s important is what is in your mind. (Bill Snyder)

* A photograph that brings news of some unsuspected zone of misery cannot make dent in public opinion unless there is an appropriate context of feeling and attitude. (Susan Sontag)

* All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s mortality, vulnerability, mutability. (Susan S.)

* It seems positively unnatural to travel without taking a camera along…The very activity of taking pictures is soothing, and assuages general feelings of disorientation that are likely to be exacerbated by travel. (Susan S.)

* The painter constructs, the photographer discloses. (Susan S.)

* Travel becomes a strategy for accumulating photographs. (Susan S.)

* The camera is a wonderful tool, but 9/10th of people using it are simply button pushers who let off their cameras as one lets off a firework. (D.A.Spencer)

* Photography to me is therapeutic. It is a way for me to release and express emotion. A good day taking pictures is equivalent to a good visit to an expensive therapist. (Tom Sperduto)

*Once you really commence to see things, then u really commence to feel things. (Edward Steichen)

*If I were to teach, I would’t teach a course in photography. I’d teach a course called ‘What Matters’. (Ralph Steiner)

* When a portrait evokes a feeling, then you’ve got something. Technique isn’t really important. What I want is a believable moment. (Bern Stern)

* Women especially ask me to take their pictures, because they think I’ll make them beautiful . (Bern Stern)

* I shutter to think how many people are underexposed & lacking depth in this field. (Rick Steves)

*Truth is the objective of the documentary attitude. (Roy Stryker)

* I am not interested in adjectives. I am only interested in pictures. (Roy Stryker)

* To speak technically, photography is the art of writing with light. But if I want to think about it more philosophically, I can say that photography is the art of writing with time. When u capture an image u capture not only piece of space, you also capture a piece of time. (Gerardo Suter)

* It isn’t what a picture is of, it is what it is about. (John Szarkowski)

* The question is not what you look at, but what u see. (Henry Thoreau)

* We must look for a long time before we can see. (Henry Thoreau)

* …amateurs worry about equipment, professionals worry about money, masters worry about light, I just take pictures…(Vernon Trent)

* God makes the pictures, I just take them. (Ed H.Urqhardt)

* Photography is the love affair with life. (Burk Uzzle)

* Technical perfection is not the goal of photography. (Ellis Vener)

* The big challenge to photographers is to be able to tell the story with only the image. (Philip Wayner)

* You have a million options with equipment to distract you. I tell my students to simplify their equipment. (Brett Weston)

*I see no reason for recording the obvious.(Edward Weston)

*Let the subject generate its own photographs. Become a camera. (Minor White)

*I am always mentally photographing everything as practice. (Minor White)

*All photographs are self-portrait.(Minor White)

*One should not only photograph things for what they are but for what else they are. (Minor White)

* Often while travelling with a camera we arrive just as the sun slips over the horizon of a moment, too late to expose film, only time enough to expose our hearts.(Minor White)

* Advice to photographers : learn technique, then forget it.(John R. Whiting)

*I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them. (Diane Arbus)