Great Photography Quotes

The important thing is not the camera but the eye.

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Inspirational, Photography, Eye

56 Copy quote
Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.

Aaron Siskind

Inspirational, Inspiring, Photography

61 Copy quote
If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera.

Lewis Hine

Inspirational, Photography, Insightful

Lewis Wickes Hine, Daile Kaplan (1992). “Photo story: selected letters and photographs of Lewis W. Hine”, Smithsonian Inst Pr

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Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I'm going to take tomorrow.

Imogen Cunningham

Inspirational, Photography, Art

95 Copy quote
It's one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, it's another thing to make a portrait of who they are.

Paul Caponigro

Inspirational, Photography, Portraits

51 Copy quote
In photography there are no shadows that cannot be illuminated.

August Sander

Inspirational, Photography, Shadow

32 Copy quote
Don't shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like.

David Alan Harvey

Photography, Looks, Photographer

57 Copy quote
When you photograph people in color you photograph their clothes. When you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their soul!

Ted Grant

Photography, Black And White, Color

65 Copy quote
Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face.

Edward Steichen

Photography, Feelings, Faces

"To Catch the Instant", Time Magazine, April 7, 1961.

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The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.

Andy Warhol

Inspirational, Photography, I Hate You

96 Copy quote
To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Photography, Reality, Joy

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In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotiv.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Photography, Details, Littles

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Michael L. Sand (1999). “The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers”

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Never boss people around. It's more important to click with people than to click the shutter.

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Photography, People, Boss

13 Copy quote
To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.

Elliott Erwitt

Inspirational, Inspiring, Photography

"You Might Be a Cowgirl If . . .: A Guide to Life on the Range" by Jill Charlotte Stanford, Robin L. Corey, Globe Pequot, (p. 111), September 4, 2012.

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A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.

Diane Arbus

Inspirational, Photography, Philosophical

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If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough.

Robert Capa

Photography, Photographer, Good Enough

Robert Capa (1987). “Robert Capa: cuadernos de guerra en España (1936-1939).”

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Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner. Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory.

Diane Arbus

Life, Motivational, Softball

94 Copy quote
Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.

Ansel Adams

Photography, Years, Twelve

"Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.

Ansel Adams

Photography, Mistake, Care

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A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.

Ansel Adams

Photography, Needs, Photographer

Ansel Adams, Nancy Wynne Newhall, M.H. De Young Memorial Museum (1963*). “Ansel Adams, photographs 1923-1963”

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Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.

Ansel Adams

Photography, Cameras, Photographer

Eric Peter Nash, Ansel Adams (1995). “Ansel Adams: The Spirit of Wild Places”, Todtri Book Pub

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A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.

Ansel Adams

Photography, Photographer, Feels

15 Copy quote
There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.

Ansel Adams

Photography, Cameras, Photographer

Attributed in "The Everything Digital Photography Book" by E.T. Schoch, (p. 105), 2002.

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There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.

Ansel Adams

Inspirational, Photography, Creativity

Interview with David Sheff, davidsheff.com. March 1983.

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When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.

Ansel Adams

Inspirational, Photography, Creativity

Attributed in "AB bookman's weekly: for the specialist book world", Vol. 76, Nr. 19-27; (p. 3326), 1985.

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