The Essential Collection Of Quotes By Photographers

PhotoQuotes
We can all learn a lot from the photographers who make the classic photographs.
Here’s a list of links to collections of my favorite quotes by master photographers.
You’ll find them inspiring!
Sam Abell
Berenice Abbott
Ansel Adams
Robert Adams
Diane Arbus
Richard Avedon
Ruth Bernhard
Bill Brandt
Harry Callahan
Keith Carter
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Chuck Close
Wynn Bullock
Edward Burtynsky
John Paul Caponigro
Paul Caponigro
Harold Edgerton
William Eggleston
Alfred Eisendstadt
Elliot Erwitt
Walker Evans
Andreas Feininger
Robert Frank
Lee Friedlander
Emmet Gowin
Ernst Haas
Michael Kenna
Andre Kertesz
Josef Koudelka
David La Chapelle
Jacques-Henri Lartigue
Annie Liebovitz
Jay Maisel
Sally Mann
Robert Mapplethorpe
Joel Meyerowitz
Richard Misrach
James Nachtwey
Irving Penn
John Pfahl
Eliot Porter
Sebastiao Salgado
John Sexton
Cindy Sherman
Stephen Shore
Aaron Siskind
W Eugene Smith
Fredrick Sommer
Edward Steichen
Alfred Steiglitz
Paul Strand
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Joyce Tenneson
George Tice
Jerry Uelsmann
Andy Warhol
Edward Weston
Weegee
Minor White
Gary Winogrand

Read new additions to this collection here.
View The Essential Collection Of Documentaries On Photographers Online here.
Read Photographer’s Favorite Quotes here.

18 Quotes By Photographer Bill Brandt

 
Here’s a collection of my favorite quotes by photographer Bill Brandt.
“It is part of the photographer’s job to see more intensely than most people do. He must have and keep in him something of the receptiveness of the child who looks at the world for the first time or of the traveler who enters a strange country.” – Bill Brandt
“It is the gift of seeing the life around them clearly and vividly, as something that is exciting in its own right. It is an innate gift, varying in intensity with the individual’s temperament and environment.” – Bill Brandt
“Most photographers would feel a certain embarrassment in admitting publicly that they carried within them a sense of wonder, yet without it they would not produce the work they do, whatever their particular field.” – Bill Brandt
“The good photographer will produce a competent picture every time whatever his subject. But only when his subject makes and immediate and direct appeal to his own interests will he produce a work of distinction.” – Bill Brandt
“It is essential for the photographer to know the effect of his lenses. The lens is his eye, and it makes or ruins his pictures. A feeling for composition is a great asset. I think it is very much a matter of instinct. It can perhaps be developed, but I doubt if it can be learned. To achieve his best work, the young photographer must discover what really excites him visually. He must discover his own world.” – Bill Brandt
“A photographer must be prepared to catch and hold on to those elements which give distinction to the subject or lend it atmosphere.” – Bill Brandt
“If there is any method in the way I take pictures, I believe it lies in this. See the subject first. Do not try to force it to be a picture of this, that or the other thing. Stand apart from it. Then something will happen. The subject will reveal itself.” – Bill Brandt
“By temperament I am not unduly excitable and certainly not trigger-happy. I think twice before I shoot and very often do not shoot at all. By professional standards I do not waste a lot of film; but by the standards of many of my colleagues I probably miss quite a few of my opportunities. Still, the things I am after are not in a hurry as a rule.” – Bill Brandt
“But I did not always know just what it was I wanted to photograph. I believe it is important for a photographer to discover this, for unless he finds what it is that excites him, what it is that calls forth at once an emotional response, he is unlikely to achieve his best work.” – Bill Brandt
“Sometimes they are a matter of luck; the photographer could not expect or hope for them. Sometimes they are a matter of patience, waiting for an effect to be repeated that he has seen and lost or for one that he anticipates.” – Bill Brandt
“I am not very interested in extraordinary angles. They can be effective on certain occasions, but I do not feel the necessity for them in my own work. Indeed, I feel the simplest approach can often be most effective. A subject placed squarely in the centre of the frame, if attention is not distracted from it by fussy surroundings, has a simple dignity which makes it all the more impressive.” – Bill Brandt
“Photographers should follow their own judgment, and not the fads and dictates of others.” – Bill Brandt
“And only the photographer himself knows the effect he wants. He should know by instinct, grounded in experience, what subjects are enhanced by hard or soft, light or dark treatment.” – Bill Brandt
“I consider it essential that the photographer should do his own printing and enlarging. The final effect of the finished print depends so much on these operations.” – Bill Brandt
“No amount of toying with shades of print or with printing papers will transform a commonplace photograph into anything other than a commonplace photograph.” – Bill Brandt
“Photography is not a sport. It has no rules.” – Bill Brandt
“Photography is still a very new medium and everything must be tried and dare.” – Bill Brandt
Read more Photographers’ Quotes here.
View Photographer’s Videos here.

14 Quotes By Photographer Andre Kertesz

 
Here’s a selection of my favorite quotes by photographer Andre Kertesz.
“I am an amateur and I intend to stay that way for the rest of my life.” – Andre Kertesz
“I do what I feel, that’s all, I am an ordinary photographer working for his own pleasure. That’s all I’ve ever done.” – Andre Kertesz
“Photography is my only language.” – Andre Kertesz
“The camera is my tool. Through it I give a reason to everything around me.” – Andre Kertesz
“Everything is a subject. Every subject has a rhythm. To feel it is the raison d’être. The photograph is a fixed moment of such a raison d’être, which lives on in itself.” – Andre Kertesz
“I am a lucky man. I can do something with almost anything I see. Everything is still interesting to me.” – Andre Kertesz
“I can’t talk about my style. It us kind of difficult for me. I don’t like styles. I only like taking photos and expressing myself through them.” – Andre Kertesz
“If you want to write you should learn the alphabet. You write and write and in the end you hava a beautiful, perfect alphabet. But it isn’t the alphabed that is important. The important thing is what you are writing, what you are expressing. The same thing goes for photography. Photographs can be technically perfect and even beautiful, but they have no expression.” – Andre Kertesz
“Technique isn’t important. Technique is in the blood. Events and mood are more important than good light and the happening is what is important.”- Andre Kertesz
“The moment always dictates in my work. What I feel, I do. This is the most important thing for me, Everybody can look, but they don’t necessarily see. I never calculate or consider; I see a situation and I know that it’s right, even if I have to go back to get the proper lighting.”- Andre Kertesz
“I am an amateur and intend to remain one my whole life long. I attribute to photography the task of recording the real nature of things, their interior, their life. The photographer’s art is a continuous discovery which requires patience and time. A photograph draws its beauty from the truth with which it’s marked. For this very reason I refuse all the tricks of the trade and professional virtuosity which could make me betray my career. As soon as I find a subject which interests me, I leave it to the lens to record it truthfully. Look at the reporters and at the amateur photographer! They both have only one goal; to record a memory or a document. And that is pure photography. – Andre Kertesz
“The most valuable things in a life are a man’s memories. And they are priceless.” – Andre Kertesz
“I do not document anything, I give an interpretation.” – Andre Kertesz
“Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph.” – Andre Kertesz
Read more Photographers’ Quotes here.
View Photographer’s Videos here.

Contact Sheet – Iceland 2014

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There were many surprises on our recent DPD workshop in Iceland. Anticipating auroras we encountered heavy weather, which we expertly dodged with resourcefulness of our hosts at Focus On Nature.
In the images I made during this week I found something old and something new. I revisited a few old themes – reflections and ripples. I connected new themes – contrails and tire tracks. But the bird’s eye views we saw during one hour of aerials both over frozen highlands and along flowing rivers were the most captivating. Related to aerial images I’ve produced in Namibia, I’m sure now that this kind of photography is something I’ll do much more of in the future.
That said, it’s really the relationship between a new image of a wave and an earlier one of a waterfall that excites me most. I thought that I hadn’t found what I was looking for, great images of auroras. But when I saw this wave repeatedly crashing into the air, I realized I actually found what I’d been looking for for quite some time. Expect the unexpected?
 View more Contact Sheets here.
View Seth Resnick’s images from the same voyage here.
Learn more about my digital printing and digital photography workshops.

Contact Sheet – Morocco 2014

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I anticipated being out of my comfort zone for the majority of my recent DPD adventure to Morocco. As a surreal landscape photographer I’ve had very little experience with street photography and portraiture. It was great practice. I did better than I expected. Practice makes better. While I don’t plan to release any of these images, my vision and skills are stronger for having made them. The questions that were asked and clarified were the most important. “What kind of chemistry is necessary for an authentic event to happen?” “How many ways can you start chemical reactions?” “How long does it take?” “In which peak moment is this most intensely felt?” “How do the images you make reflect your personal relationship to the subject?” Ironically, it might be easier to answer these questions when photographing people than landscapes, but they’re equally valid for both.
I anticipated the days in the deep deserts to be the most personally productive – and I’ve got some good raw material to work with. It’s unfinished. This raises, another good question. “When is work complete enough?” But I made one rough composite, which gave me proof of concept. Though I’m sure there will be surprises along the way, I know where the work is going and what it will take to complete it.
View more Contact Sheets here. 
View Seth Resnick’s images from the same adventure here.
Learn more about my digital printing and digital photography workshops.

34 Quotes On Awareness

Quotes_Awareness
Here’s a selection of my favorite quotes on awareness.
“To be awake is to be alive.” – Henry David Thoreau
“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.” – Aristotle
“To be conscious means not simply to be, but to be reported, known, to have awareness of one’s being added to that being.” – William James
“Although it is difficult to pinpoint the physical base or location of awareness, it is perhaps the most precious thing concealed within our brains. And it is something that the individual alone can feel and experience. Each of us cherishes it highly, yet it is private” – Dalai Lama
“I’ve worked all my life on the subject of awareness, whether it’s awareness of the body, awareness of the mind, awareness of your emotions, awareness of your relationships, or awareness of your environment. I think the key to transforming your life is to be aware of who you are.” – Deepak Chopra
“Every human has four endowments – self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose, to respond, to change.” – Stephen Covey
“The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.” – Lao Tzu
“To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are.” – Eric Hoffer
“What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.” – Abraham Maslow
“If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it.” Abraham Lincoln
“The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.” – Nathaniel Branden
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” ― Carl R. Rogers
“Ultimately spiritual awareness unfolds when you’re flexible, when you’re spontaneous, when you’re detached, when you’re easy on yourself and easy on others.” – Deepak Chopra
“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.” ― Michel de Montaigne
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” ― Dolly Parton
“Awareness is empowering.” – Rita Wilson
“Awareness requires a rupture with the world we take for granted; then old categories of experience are called into question and revised.” – Shoshana Zuboff
“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” ― C.G. Jung
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” ― C.G. Jung
“Each of us is an artist of our days; the greater our integrity and awareness, the more original and creative our time will become.” ― John O’Donohue
“I want art to make me think. In order to do that, it may piss me off, or make me uncomfortable. That promotes awareness and change, or at least some discussion.” – Pink
“The function of the artist in a disturbed society is to give awareness of the universe, to ask the right questions, and to elevate the mind.” – Marina Abramovic
“The only thing that can save the world is the reclaiming of the awareness of the world. That’s what poetry does.” – Allen Ginsberg
“A lot of actors on film sets… very often they’re not paying attention to the physical world around them. I think through studying art, I’ve always had that awareness and that’s something that I’ve wanted to bring in to go beyond acting… As a form of expression, they are intrinsically linked.” – Andy Serkis
“We’re highly social animals – I’m told by scientists that what makes us different from other animals is an acute social awareness, which is what has made us so successful.” – Alan Alda
“I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.” – Billie Jean King
“We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigor, the mystery, the humor, the variety, and the wonder of life. This is the function of the American dance” – Martha Graham
“Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.” – W. Eugene Smith
“I think there are two aspects to smart environments. One is information embedded in places and things. The other is location awareness, so that devices we carry around know where we are. When you combine those two, you get a lot of possibilities.” – Howard Rheingold
“As our various electronic devices gain more and more sensory awareness, we open up the potential for entirely new forms of interaction. Not just new interfaces – tapping and shaking and whatnot – but a shift in presence.” – Jamais Cascio
“Awareness in our society has flipped all types of injustice on its head.” – Serj Tankian
“The greatest mistake of the movement has been trying to organize a sleeping people around specific goals. You have to wake the people up first, then you’ll get action.” ― Malcolm X
“These things will destroy the human race: politics without principle, progress without compassion, wealth without work, learning without silence, religion without fearlessness and worship without awareness.” – Anthony de Mello
“Awareness without action is worthless.” – Phil McGraw
Read more creativity quotes here.
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25 Quotes By Sculptor/Photographer Andy Goldsworthy

 
Here’s a selection of my favorite quotes by sculptor/photographer Andy Goldsworthy.
“My work comes first, reasons for it follow“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“Ideas must be put to the test. That’s why we make things, otherwise they would be no more than ideas. There is often a huge difference between an idea and its realization. I’ve had what I thought were great ideas that just didn’t work.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“I enjoy working in a quiet and subversive way.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“Not being able to touch is sometimes as interesting as being able to touch.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“Confrontation is something that I accept as part of the project though not its purpose.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“Photography is a way of putting distance between myself and the work which sometimes helps me to see more clearly what it is that I have made.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“Movement, change, light, growth, and decay are the life-blood of nature, the energies that I try to tap through my work.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“You must have something new in a landscape as well as something old, something that’s dying and something that’s being born.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“We often forget that WE ARE NATURE. Nature is not something separate from us. So when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves.” ― Andy Goldsworthy
“The reason why the stone is red is its iron content, which is also why our blood is red.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“I have worked with this red all over the world – in Japan, California, France, Britain, Australia – a vein running round the earth. It has taught me about the flow, energy and life that connects one place with another.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“A stone is ingrained with geological and historical memories.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“As with all my work, whether it’s a leaf on a rock or ice on a rock, I’m trying to get beneath the surface appearance of things. Working the surface of a stone is an attempt to understand the internal energy of the stone.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“Fire is the origin of stone.By working the stone with heat, I am returning it to its source.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“Once the fired stone is out of the kiln, it is still possible to mentally reconstruct it in its original form.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“It’s frightening and unnerving to watch a stone melt.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“The hardened mass of liquid stones had much stronger qualities than those which had simply torn. The skin remained a recognisable part of the molten stone.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“The stones tear like flesh, rather than breaking. Although what happens is violent, it is a violence that is in stone. A tear is more unnerving than a break.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“I soon realised that what had happened on a small scale cannot necessarily be repeated on a larger scale. The stones were so big that the amount of heat required was prohibitively expensive and wasteful.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“I’m cautious about using fire. It can become theatrical. I am interested in the heat, not the flames.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“A snowball is simple, direct and familiar to most of us. I use this simplicity as a container for feelings and ideas that function on many levels.” – Andy Goldsworthy
“I have walked around the same streets so many times, and then seen a place that had been hidden to me. I now know the sites in a way that makes me think I could have made better use of the connections between place and snowball.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“My art is an attempt to reach beyond the surface appearance. I want to see growth in wood, time in stone, nature in a city, and I do not mean its parks but a deeper understanding that a city is nature too-the ground upon which it is built, the stone with which it is made.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“I am not a performer but occasionally I deliberately work in a public context. Some sculptures need the movement of people around them to work.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“The relationship between the public and the artist is complex and difficult to explain. There is a fine line between using this critical energy creatively and pandering to it.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
“People also leave presence in a place even when they are no longer there.“ – Andy Goldsworthy
Read more Photographer’s Quotes here.