Photographic Quotations

[Ray Sachs]

I just recently stumbled onto a wonderful quote in another member's signature line and it sent me on a brief (VERY brief, these being the days of Google) search for other great photography related quotations. And I quickly found the site below, which is chock full of 'em, from just about every photographer you've ever heard of and many you haven't. So far, I haven't gotten past Bresson, but I'm looking forward to perusing this site extensively. I love quotations relating to a given activity - I'm also a pretty avid cyclist and there are books of great cycling quotes. They somehow help shed light on the essence sometimes.

For anyone interested...

Great Photography Quotes - Best Photographers Quotations

-Ray

 

[BBW]

Thanks Ray!

 

[Streetshooter]

No Eyes Ever Will, Nor Ever Shall,
See What I See Now.
Margaret Bourke White

 

[soundimageplus]

My favourite

Missed out my favourite - which is allegedly from David Bailey.

On being told by a client how lucky he was to get get certain elements in his picture, a bird, someone walking etc. He replied -

"Yes the more pictures I take, the luckier I seem to get!"

 

[Ray Sachs]

It was either Henri or Ansel who said 'your worst photos are your first 10,000. In today's digital world, that could be your first 50,000.

-Ray

 

[markitos]

I just recently stumbled onto a wonderful quote in another member's signature line

What was the quote you stumbled upon and liked so much?

 

[Ray Sachs]

What was the quote you stumbled upon and liked so much?

Why, it was the one in your signature line - I mentioned it over in the thread on motorcycles. I love that quote - it explains my whole reluctance to get caught up in any level of pixel peeping. All of these cameras we have at our disposal today are so friggin' good, even the little compacts like the LX5 and S95, that the main thing is to find the one that'll make it easiest to get the kind of shot you're going for and then just go do it. The last X% of image quality couldn't mean less to me.... And knowing that Henri said it better than I ever could, is nice to know.

-Ray

 

[BBW]

markitos, thank you for asking (I had meant to myself) and for having that quotation in your signature line. Good catch, Ray!

 

[Vidar]

All of these cameras we have at our disposal today are so friggin' good, even the little compacts like the LX5 and S95, that the main thing is to find the one that'll make it easiest to get the kind of shot you're going for and then just go do it. The last X% of image quality couldn't mean less to me....

-Ray

It is just that the camera producers tries to make us feel that we need to buy a new camera every 6 months...

 

[pdh]

there are some good quotes in people's sigs on this and other forums ... I particularly like that belonging to forum member Ephemeral Moment:

Photography is not a sport. It has no rules. Everything must be dared and tried!

remembering it always makes me feel better after a "failure" ...

 

[markitos]

Why, it was the one in your signature line - I mentioned it over in the thread on motorcycles. I love that quote - it explains my whole reluctance to get caught up in any level of pixel peeping. All of these cameras we have at our disposal today are so friggin' good, even the little compacts like the LX5 and S95, that the main thing is to find the one that'll make it easiest to get the kind of shot you're going for and then just go do it. The last X% of image quality couldn't mean less to me.... And knowing that Henri said it better than I ever could, is nice to know.

-Ray

Ah, glad it resonated with you. Obviously, it resonates with me too. To me it expresses very succinctly and humorously that there are more elements to a good/great photograph than technical perfection.

markitos, thank you for asking (I had meant to myself) and for having that quotation in your signature line. Good catch, Ray!

You're welcome. He has many good quotes, but it's always been one of my favorites. I put it in my signature line on another forum after I saw Cartier-Bresson's retrospective exhibit in NYC this past summer.

 

[Grant]

It was either Henri or Ansel who said 'your worst photos are your first 10,000. In today's digital world, that could be your first 50,000.

-Ray

This is more or less what is stated by psychologist Anders Ericsson who researched the success of violinists at the Berlin Academy of Music.