These are some of the most interesting thoughts of photographers on photography, expressed as quotes. Some of them I agree with, some I don’t – but they are all thought provoking. I restricted myself to one quote per photographer, which in many cases, such as Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson, was difficult. In the next post I will collect the thoughts of other creatives such as artists, film makers and writers on the same topic.
Ansel Adams – Landscape Photographer
“Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.”
William Albert Allard – Documentary Photographer
“What’s really important is to simplify. The work of most photographers would be improved immensely if they could do one thing: get rid of the extraneous. If you strive for simplicity, you are more likely to reach the viewer. ”
Diane Arbus – Documentary Photographer
“I tend to think of the act of photographing, generally speaking, as an adventure. My favourite thing is to go where I’ve never been.”
Richard Avedon – Fashion & Portrait Photographer
“A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth. ”
David Bailey – Fashion & Portrait Photographer
“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.”
Margaret Bourke-White – Photojournalist & War photographer
“If anyone gets in my way when I’m making a picture, I become irrational. I’m never sure what I am going to do, or sometimes even aware of what I do – only that I want that picture.”
Brassai – Photographer, Sculptor, Writer & Film Maker
Andri Cauldwell – Photographer
Robert Capa – War Photographer
“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” Continue reading “Photographers on Photography”