Famous photographers quotes on Life
Not only are they responsible for the most recognisable and iconic imagery, but these famous photographers have incredible philosophies and thoughts on what it is to see the World from behind the lens or their media. Each of the famous photographers sees the World from a different perspective to tantalise our minds and our eyes.
Aaron Siskind 1903-1991
“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.’
He focused on the detail.
John Berger 1926 – 2017
“What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are time and light.”
British essayist and cultural thinker as well as a prolific novelist, poet, translator, and screenwriter.
Ansel Adams 1902 – 1984
“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.
It is through his foresight and fortitude that so much of America has been saved for future Americans as said by American President James Carter.
Henri cartier-bresson1908 – 2004
“Sharpness is a bourgeois concept.”
Bresson has intuitively chronicled decisive moments of human life around the world with poetic documentary style. His quote certainly resonates with me and my style.
Elliott Erwitt 1928 – present
“The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.”
French-born American photographer and filmmaker who is known for his uncanny ability to capture on film the humour and irony of everyday life.
Martin Parr, 1952-present
“With photography, I like to create a fiction out of reality. I try and do this by taking society’s natural prejudice and giving this a twist.”
One of the most renowned contemporary photographers in the World documenting life with highly saturated humour.
Man Ray, 1890 – 1976
“Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask ‘how’, while others of a more curious nature will ask ‘why’. Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.”
Ray was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movement and and was influenced by the writings of Sigmund Freud.
Ted Grant, 1929 – 2020
“When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!”
Grant is widely regarded as the father of Canadian photojournalism, and has been a seminal figure in the industry since the start of his career in 1951
Wynn Bullock, 1902 – 1975
“When I photograph, what I’m really doing is seeking answers to things.”
Bullock became fascinated with photography in the mid 1920’s, not only as an art form uniquely based on light, but also as a vehicle through which he could more creatively engage with the world.
Yousuf Karsh, 1908 – 2002
“Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness.”
Armenian-Canadian, Karsh, was the man behind the lens of one of the most reproduced photographs in the history of the World, Winston Churchill, 1941.
