Forward & Credits
I have a fondness for quotes & I’ve been gathering photography-related quotes for a while now, my favourite photography-related quotes that is, most of which are attributed to some of the most recognisable & influential names in photography past & present. And now that I have a photography blog I decided to lump them together here. So here it is. I’ll add to this list over time but as of this original posting on October 7th, 2011, the list contains 77 quotes.
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– Alfred Eisenstaedt, when asked what he did at night in Paris
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– Henri Cartier-Bresson when expressing his views on the use of flash in photography.
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– George Carlin
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– Anne Geddes
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– Anonymous
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– Ansel Adams
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– Dorthea Lange
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Don’t torture yourself with too much equipment. It will tire you and cripple your concentration. – Ernst Haas
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The quickest way to make money at photography is to sell your camera. – Anonymous
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Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field. – Peter Adams
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I just got this new camera. It’s so advanced you don’t even need it. – Stephen Wright
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There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. — Ansel Adams
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Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst. – Henri Cartier-Bresson
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If you want something to look interesting, don’t light all of it. – Joe McNally
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The term accessories has come to include a host of photographic gadgets of questionable value. – Ansel Adams
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Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography. – George Eastman
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If I saw something in my viewfinder that looked familiar to me, I would do something to shake it up. – Garry Winogrand
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There is no better time to crop a bad composition than just before you press the shutter release. – Bryan Peterson
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You push the button, we do the rest. – George Eastman
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No photographer is better than the simplest of cameras – Edward Weston
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If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event…what kind of film would you use? – Anonymous
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How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, “I could have done that!” – Anonymous
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I have often thought that if photography were difficult in the true sense of the term — meaning that the creation of a simple photograph would entail as much time and effort as the production of a good watercolor or etching — there would be a vast improvement in total output. The sheer ease with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster. – Ansel Adams
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A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know. – Daine Arbus
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30. To the complaint, ‘There are no people in these photographs,’ I respond, There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer. – Ansel Adams
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31. Everyone will take one great picture, I’ve done better because I’ve taken two. – David Bailey
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32. Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships. – Ansel Adams
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33. The two most engaging powers of a photographer are to make new things familiar and familiar things new. – William Thackeray
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34. The camera doesn’t make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But, you have to SEE. – Ernst Hass
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35. There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. – Ansel Adams
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36. Consulting the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk. – Edward Weston
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37. Results are uncertain even for the more experienced photographers. – Matthew Brady
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38. To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It’s a way of life. – Henri Cartier-Bresson
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39. Sharpness is a bourgeois concept. – Henri Cartier-Bresson
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40. The simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression… . In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotif. – Henri Cartier-Bresson
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41. Photograph: A picture painted by the sun without instruction in art. – Ambrose Bierce
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42. No matter how advanced your camera you still need to be responsible for getting it to the right place at the right time and pointing it in the right direction to get the photo you want. – Ken Rockwell
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43. Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again. – Henri Cartier-Bresson
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44. We try to grab pieces of our lives as they speed past us. Photographs freeze those pieces and help us remember how we were. We don’t know these lost people but if you look around, you’ll find someone just like them. – Gene McSweeney
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45. A career in photography is a journey without a destination. – Joe McNally
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46. If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn’t need to lug around a camera. – Lewis Hine
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47. It’s not enough to have talent, you also have to be Hungarian. – Robert Capa
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48. Photography is my one recreation and I think it should be done well. – Lewis Carroll
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49. The truth is you have too many cameras and you don’t take enough photographs. – Kyle Cassidy
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50. I have seized the light. I have arrested its flight. – Louis Daguerre
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51. It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter. – Alfred Eisenstadt
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52. Pictures must not be too picturesque. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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53. Art is not to be found by touring to Egypt, China, or Peru; if you cannot find it at your own door, you will never find it. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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54. A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you. – Brigitte Bardot
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55. The camera cannot lie, but it can be an accessory to untruth. – Harold Evans
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56. The less time and effort you spend worrying about your equipment the more time and effort you can spend creating great images. The right equipment just makes it easier, faster or more convenient for you to get the results you need. – Ken Rockwell
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57. Photography is truth. And cinema is truth twenty-four times a second. – Jean-Luc Godard
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58. I drifted into photography like one drifts into prostitution. First I did it to please myself, then I did it to please my friends, and eventually I did it for the money. – Philippe Halsman
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59. I can’t tell you how many pictures I’ve missed just ‘cause I’ve been so hell bent on getting the shot I think I want. – Joe McNally
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60. I am often asked which picture is my favorite. This is like asking a mother which child she likes the most. – Philippe Halsman
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61. While photographs may not lie, liars may photograph. – Lewis Hine
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62. It’s weird that photographers spend years or even a whole lifetime, trying to capture moments that added together, don’t even amount to a couple of hours. – James Lalropui Keivom
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63. People say photographs don’t lie, mine do.” –David LaChapelle
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64. Unpredictability. Accidents. Not good when you’re engaging in, say, brain surgery, but when lighting…wonderful! – Joe McNally
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66. In black and white you suggest; in color you state. Much can be implied by suggestion, but statement demands certainty… absolute certainty. – Paul Outerbridge
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67. The question is not what you look at but what you see! – Henry David Thoureau
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68. You cannot depend on your eyes if your imagination is out of focus – Mark Twain
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69. Anything more than 500 yds from the car just isn’t photogenic. – Brett Weston
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70. You see something happening and you bang away at it. Either you get what you saw or you get something else–and whichever is better you print. – Garry Winogrand
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71. Everyone has a photographic memory, but not everyone has film. – Anonymous
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72. Long ago . . . it must be . . . I have a photograph. Preserve your memories; They’re all that’s left you. – Paul Simon
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73. If art is aristocratic, photography is its democratic voice. – Ernst Haas
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74. I never really wanted to be a photographer. It was a compromise that slowly grew out of a boyhood desire to combine two goals: explorer and painter. I wanted to travel, to see, to experience, but was overwhelmed with too many constantly changing impressions. What better profession could there be than that of a photographer, who is almost a painter in a hurry? – Ernst Haas
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75. Above all, life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference. – Robert Frank
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76. These are the two basic controls at the photographer’s command – position and timing -all others are extensions, peripheral ones, compared to them. – David Hurn
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77. Light is to an image as blood is to the body. – Rolando Gomez
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Update – February 10th 2012
78. You can’t make a great musician or a great photographer if the magic isn’t there. – Eve Arnold
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79. Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing, and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again. – Henri Cartier-Bresson
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80. Photography is not a contest… It’s about being a witness to your times. – Rich Remsberg
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Update – October 5th 2012
81. Which is my best picture? The one I will do tomorrow. – Imogen Cunningham
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82. The most important thing is not the camera, it’s the eye. – Alfred Eisenstaedt
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83. Many photographers think that if they buy a better camera they will be able to make better pictures. A better camera won’t make anything for you if your head or heart are empty. – Arnold Newman
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84. There are no rules and regulations for perfect composition. If there were we would be able to put all the information into a computer and would come out with a masterpiece. We know that’s impossible. You have to compose by the seat of your pants. – Arnold Newman
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85. Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world. – Arnold Newman
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86. Visual ideas combined with technology combined with personal interpretation equals photography. Each must hold it’s own; if it doesn’t, the thing collapses. – Arnold Newman
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87. Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have someone click the shutter. – Ansel Adams
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88. The best camera is the one that’s with you. – Chase Jarvis
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89. A good photograph is knowing where to stand. – Ansel Adams
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Update – March 28th 2013
90. I’m a professional photographer by trade and am amateur photographer by vocation. – Elliot Erwitt
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Update – May 12th 2013
91. I tend to think of the act of photographing, generally speaking, as an adventure. My favorite thing is to go where I’ve never been. – Daine Arbus
And lastly…
I see dead pixels – The Sixth Sensor
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Want More?
These & other photography-related quotes can be found at photoquotes.com
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