Eve Arnold Quotes

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If a photographer cares about the people before the lens and is compassionate, much is given. It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument.

Eve Arnold

Photography, People, Cameras

Eve Arnold (1976). “The Unretouched Woman”, Random House (NY)

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If you are careful with people, they will offer you part of themselves. That is the big secret.

Eve Arnold

People, Secret, Bigs

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I didn't want to be a woman photographer. That would limit me. I wanted to be a photographer who was a woman, with all the world open to my camera.

Eve Arnold

Cameras, World, Want

Eve Arnold (1995). “Eve Arnold: in retrospect”, Random House (UK)

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I don't see anybody as either ordinary or extraordinary. I see them simply as people in front of my lens.

Eve Arnold

People, Ordinary, Lenses

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I have been poor and I wanted to document poverty; I had lost a child and I was obsessed with birth; I was interested in politics and I wanted to know how it affected our lives; I am a woman and I wanted to know about women.

Eve Arnold

Children, Poverty, Birth

Eve Arnold (1976). “The Unretouched Woman”, Random House (NY)

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The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.

Eve Arnold

Photography, Cameras, Photographer

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What do you hang on the walls of your mind?

Eve Arnold

Wall, Mind

Eve Arnold (1995). “Eve Arnold: in retrospect”, Random House (UK)

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I think if I ever get satisfied, I’ll have to stop. It’s the frustration that drives you.

Eve Arnold

Frustration, Thinking, Satisfied

"Eve Arnold obituary" by Amanda Hopkinson, www.theguardian.com. January 5, 2012.

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It's the hardest thing in the world to take the mundane and try to show how special it is.

Eve Arnold

Special, Trying, World

"Eve Arnold obituary" by Amanda Hopkinson, www.theguardian.com. January 5, 2012.

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If the photographer is interested in the people in front of his lens, and if he is compassionate, it's already a lot. The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.

Eve Arnold

Inspirational, Photography, People

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I never knew anyone who came close to Marilyn in natural ability to use both photographer and still camera. She was
special in this, and for me there has been no one like her before or after. She has remained the measuring rod by which I have - unconsciously - judged
other subjects.

Eve Arnold

Special, Cameras, Use

Eve Arnold (1987). “Marilyn Monroe--an appreciation”, Alfred A. Knopf

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It doesn’t matter if you use a box camera or a Leica, the important thing is what motivates you when you are photographing. What I have tried to do is involve the people I was photographing. To have them realize without saying so, that it was up to them to give me whatever they wanted to give me . . . if they were willing to give, I was willing to photograph.

Eve Arnold

People, Giving, Important

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What drove me and kept me going over the decades? If I had to use a single word, it would be 'curiosity.

Eve Arnold

Curiosity, Would Be, Use

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Being a woman is just a marvelous plus in photographing. Men like to be photographed by women, it becomes flirtatious and fun, and women feel less as if they're expected to be in a relationship.

Eve Arnold

Fun, Men, Being A Woman

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I look for a sense of reality with everything I did. I didn't work in a studio, I didn't light anything. I found a way of working which pleased me because I didn't have to frighten people with heavy equipment. It was that little black box and me and £5 worth of film in my pocket or maybe it was only £2 in those days.

Eve Arnold

Reality, Light, People

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I love the idea I can go off with a single camera and a few rolls of film unencumbered... I was not interested in the illusion of reality, I wanted to get close to what was happening.

Eve Arnold

Reality, Ideas, Cameras

Eve Arnold (1995). “Eve Arnold: in retrospect”, Random House (UK)

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I found a way of working which pleased me because I didn’t have to frighten people with heavy equipment. It was that little black box and me.

Eve Arnold

People, Black, Littles

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Lesson number one: Pay attention to the intrusion of the camera.

Eve Arnold

Numbers, Cameras, Attention

Eve Arnold (1995). “Eve Arnold: in retrospect”, Random House (UK)

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What I have tried to do is involve the people I was photographing... if they were willing to give, I was willing to photograph.

Eve Arnold

People, Giving, Leica

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Themes recur again and again in my work.

Eve Arnold

Theme, Again And Again

Eve Arnold (1976). “The Unretouched Woman”, Random House (NY)

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It doesn't matter if you use a box camera or you use a Leica; the important thing is what motivates you when you are photographing.

Eve Arnold

Important, Cameras, Use

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You can't make a great musician or a great photographer if the magic isn't there.

Eve Arnold

Photography, Magic, Musician

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A studio session ... provides the greatest chance for control. Even though there is total freedom, I still dislike studio photography and the contrived images that usually stem from this genre.

Eve Arnold

Photography, Chance, Photographer

Eve Arnold (1987). “Marilyn Monroe--an appreciation”, Alfred A. Knopf

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I came to photography by accident.

Eve Arnold

Photography, Accidents

Eve Arnold (1995). “Eve Arnold: in retrospect”, Random House (UK)

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I realise that I had the best of serious picture journalism. There was an innocence in our approach, especially in the 1950s and 1960s when we naively believed that by holding a mirror up to the world we could help - no matter how little - to make people aware of the human condition.

Eve Arnold

Mirrors, People, World

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Born: April 21, 1912
Died: January 4, 2012
Occupation: Photographer
Cite this Page: Citation

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