Quotes about photography
photography mean ideas
Is it possible to put an end to a form of human behavior which has existed throughout history by means of photography? The proportions of that notion seem ridiculously out of balance. Yet, that very idea has motivated me. James Nachtwey
photography needs truth-is
When the truth is spoken, it doesn't need to be adorned. It just needs to be simply stated, and often it only needs to be said once. James Nachtwey
photography war demand
The greatest statesmen, philosophers, humanitarians ... have not been able to put an end to war. Why place that demand on photography? James Nachtwey
photography people trying
I try to use whatever I know about photography to be of service to the people I'm photographing. James Nachtwey
photography important lessons
It is very hard to say where you're going until you get there. That kind of thing is based very much on instinct. As a photographer, one of the most important lessons I have learnt is that you have to learn to listen to and trust your own instinct. It has helped to guide me - this far at least. James Nachtwey
photography war lying
For me, the strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke humanity. If war is an attempt to negate humanity, then photography can be perceived as the opposite of war. James Nachtwey
photography torn-apart events
I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated. James Nachtwey
photography airplane college
I had done a lot of rock 'n' roll photography when I was in college. I was one of many photographers who worked for The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and all of these rock 'n' roll bands. John Dykstra
photography stars war
George Lucas wanted this moving camera for all of the photography in Star Wars. He was willing to take a risk with the concepts that I advanced with regard to ways for doing that. John Dykstra
photography flirting flow
Photography, because it stops the flow of life, is always flirting with death. John Berger
photography memories cameras
The camera relieves us of the burden of memory. John Berger
photography drawing doe
Unlike any other visual image, a photograph is not a rendering, an imitation or an interpretation of its subject, but actually a trace of it. No painting or drawing, however naturalist, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does. John Berger
photography opposites different
All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it. John Berger
photography decision choices
Photographs bear witness to a human choice being exercised in a given situation. A photograph is a result of the photographer's decision that it is worth recording that this particular event or this particular object has been seen. If everything that existed were continually being photographed, every photograph would become meaningless. John Berger
photography real light
I was coming to realize that the real magician was light itself... Edward Steichen
photography art sake
Art for art's sake is dead, if it ever lived. Edward Steichen
photography people patterns
The precision of hisskill places his work beyond the tentative and the experimental stage. He is continually searching and exploring both himself and his surroundings. and in this exploration of the realm of places, people and things, contrasts and relationships, Callahan is no respecter of conventional technical formula or code. His delicate sense of pattern is an integral part of his photography and not a thing by itself. Edward Steichen
photography art self
To make good photographs, to express something, to contribute something to the world he lives in, and to contribute something to the art of photography besides imitations of the best photographers on the market today, that is basic training, the understanding of self. Edward Steichen
photography spring mean
Some day there may be... machinery that needs but to be wound up and sent roaming o'er hill and dale, through fields and meadows, by babbling brooks and shady woods - in short, a machine that will discriminately select its subject and, by means of a skillful arrangement of springs and screws, compose its motif, expose the plate, develop, print, and even mount and frame the result of its excursion, so that there will be nothing for us to do but to send it to the Royal Photographic Society's exhibition and gratefully to receive the 'Royal Medal'. Edward Steichen
photography art ideas
The use of the term art medium is, to say the least, misleading, for it is the artist that creates a work of art not the medium. It is the artist in photography that gives form to content by a distillation of ideas, thought, experience, insight and understanding. Edward Steichen
photography perfect daguerreotypes
A good daguerreotype was as perfect a kind of photograph as was ever made. Edward Steichen
photography feelings records
Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face. Edward Steichen
photography mistake artist
It is an error common to many artists, who strive merely to avoid mistakes, when all our efforts should be to create positive and important work. Better positive and important with mistakes and failures than perfect mediocrity. Edward Steichen
photography cameras photographer
No photographer is as good as the simplest camera. Edward Steichen
photography photograph thousand
A photograph is worth a thousand words, provided it is accompanied by only ten words. Edward Steichen
photography men earth
The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each to himself. And that is the most complicated thing on earth. Edward Steichen
photography men records
Photography is a major force in explaining man to man. Edward Steichen
photography art pieces
Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper the photographer begins with the finished product. Edward Steichen
photography men sky
Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man. Edward Steichen
photography simple artist
Photography is a medium of formidable contradictions. It is both ridiculously easy and almost impossibly difficult. It is easy because its technical rudiments can readily be mastered by anyonwith a few simple instructions. It is difficult because, while while the artist working in any other medium begins with a blank surface and gradually brings his conception into being, the photographer is the only imagemaker who begins with the picture completed. His emotions, his knowledge, and his native talent are brought into focus and fixed beyond recall the moment the shutter of his camera has closed. Edward Steichen
photography art men
When I first became interested in photography, I thought it was the whole cheese. My idea was to have it recognized as one of the fine arts. Today I don't give a hoot in hell about that. The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each man to himself. Edward Steichen
photography glasses discovery
I start with no preconceived idea - discovery excites me to focus - then rediscovery through the lens - final form of presentation seen on ground glass, the finished print previsioned completely in every detail of texture, movement, proportion, before exposure - the shutter's release automatically and finally fixes my conception, allowing no after manipulation - the ultimate end, the print, is but a duplication of all that I saw and felt through my camera. Edward Weston
photography art believe
The painters have no copyright on modern art!... I believe in, and make no apologies for, photography: it is the most important graphic medium of our day. It does not have to be, indeed cannot be - compared to painting - it has different means and aims. Edward Weston