“To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things.”— Ansel Adams, amazon.com
“Following rules of composition can only lead to a tedious repetition of pictorial clichés.”— Edward Weston, classes.dma.ucla.edu
“The eye is no better than the philosophy behind it. The photographer creates, evolves a better, more selective, more acute seeing eye by looking ever sharply at what is going on in the world.”— Berenice Abbott, amazon.com
“We look at the world and see what we have learned to believe is there. We have been conditioned to expect. And indeed it is socially useful that we agree on the function of objects. But, as photographers, we must learn to relax our beliefs. Move on objects with your eye straight on, to the left, aro…”— Aaron Siskind, amazon.com
“In photography, you've got to be quick, quick, quick, quick. Like an animal and a prey.”— Henri Cartier-Bresson, washingtonpost.com
“My idea of a good picture is one that's in focus and of a famous person doing something unfamous. It's being in the right place at the wrong time.”— Andy Warhol, amazon.com
“It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary.”— David Bailey, ebay.com
“I'm always very honest with the people I photograph. I open up a lot and tell people about my own experiences and answer their questions honestly. I'm asking my subjects for something, so I want to give something in return.”— Naomi Harris, independent.co.uk
“I'm always very honest with the people I photograph. I open up a lot and tell people about my own experiences and answer their questions honestly. I'm asking my subjects for something, so I want to give something in return.”— Naomi Harris, independent.co.uk
“I think art history is crucial for anyone in the visual arts. You have to understand how ideas evolve.”— David LaChapelle, independent.co.uk
“I think art history is crucial for anyone in the visual arts. You have to understand how ideas evolve.”— David LaChapelle, independent.co.uk
“I prefer not to think ahead about what I’m going to say with my photographs. I would rather be surprised and see what my subjects bring to the photograph.”— Mary Ellen Mark, blogs.academyart.edu
“With photography, you zero in; you put a lot of energy into short periods, short moments, and then you go on to the next thing. It seems to allow you to function in a very contemporary way and still produce material.”— Robert Mapplethorpe, amazon.com
“My work is about seeing — seeing things like they haven't been seen before.”— Robert Mapplethorpe, nytimes.com
“We all experience it. Those moments when we gasp and say, ‘Oh, look at that.’ Maybe it’s nothing more than the way a shadow glides across a face, but in that split second, when you realize something truly remarkable is happening and disappearing right in front of you, if you can pass a camera before…”— Joel Meyerowitz, anothermag.com
“Best compliment for a photo: looks like a painting. Best compliment for a painting: looks like a photo.”— Jesse Herzog, twitter.com
“The thing I always search for, and the thing I like about nature, is its timelessness. It’ll always be the same. You can look at a photo and not be able to place it in time.”— Ryan McGinley, purple.fr
“My goal is for people to look at my pictures and not think about how they’re made, but just to think about how they look.”— Ryan McGinley, purple.fr