Photography Quotes: Inspiring Words for Budding Photographers

Photography is an incredible art form that allows you to capture and immortalize moments in time. Inspirational photography quotes can fuel your passion and provide insight into the thoughts and feelings of some of the most renowned photographers. Through their words, you can deepen your understanding of this captivating art and unleash your creativity.

As you explore the world of photography, you may find yourself drawn in by its power to tell stories and evoke emotions. Quotes from accomplished photographers can offer motivation, encouragement, and inspiration as you continue to hone your skills. Let these powerful words remind you of the significance and beauty of capturing the essence of life through your lens.

Quote List 1 – 25

In this section, you’ll find a list of 25 inspirational photography quotes from renowned photographers. Use these quotes as a source of motivation and inspiration for your own photography journey.

1. “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” – Ansel Adams ¹
2. “The eye should learn to listen before it looks.” – Robert Frank ²
3. “It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.” – Alfred Eisenstaedt ³
4. “A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people.” – Annie Leibovitz ⁴
5. “To photograph: it is to put on the same line of sight the head, the eye and the heart.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson ¹
6. “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” – Dorothea Lange ⁴
7. “Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper… the photographer begins with the finished product.” – Edward Steichen ⁵
8. “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.” – Diane Arbus ⁶
9. “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” – Karl Lagerfeld ⁷
10. “Today everything exists to end in a photograph.” – Susan Sontag ⁸
11. “When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” – Ansel Adams ¹
12. “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” – Dorothea Lange ⁴
13. “You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life.” – Joan Miro ⁹
14. “To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place…” – Elliott Erwitt ¹⁰
15. “There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment.” – Robert Frank ²
16. “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” – Robert Capa ¹¹
17. “When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls!” – Ted Grant ¹²
18. “It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” – Paul Strand ¹³
19. “There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.” – Ansel Adams ¹
20. “Photographs open doors into the past, but they also allow a look into the future.” – Sally Mann ¹⁴
21. “Reality: each small instant of reality sets a shutter in motion…” – Henri Cartier-Bresson ¹⁵
22. “Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks photographed.” – Garry Winogrand ¹⁶
23. “Photography can only represent the present. Once photographed, the subject becomes part of the past.” – Berenice Abbott ¹⁷
24. “My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.” – Richard Avedon ¹⁸
25. “The camera is a remarkable instrument. Saturate yourself with your subject, and the camera will all but take you by the hand and point the shutter.” – Margaret Bourke-White ¹⁹

Keep these quotes in mind to inspire your photography journey and remember that practice makes perfect. Embrace the process, and you will undoubtedly grow as a photographer.

Quote List 26 – 50

In this section, you’ll find a list of inspiring photography quotes to boost your skills, capture unforgettable moments, and appreciate the beauty of film. We’ve included words from famous photographers and artists such as Martin Parr, Alfred Stieglitz, Aaron Siskind, Ralph Hattersley, Paul Caponigro, Marc Riboud, Eudora Welty, Jay Maisel, Edward Weston, Jean-Luc Godard, Irving Penn, and Ernst Haas. Enjoy reading these carefully curated quotes!

1. “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” – Dorothea Lange

2. “The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.” – Andy Warhol

3. “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” – Dorothea Lange

4. “The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.” – Elliott Erwitt

5. “The more you photograph, the more you realize what can and what can’t be photographed.” – Eliot Porter

6. “To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place.” – Elliott Erwitt

7. “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” – Ansel Adams

8. “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.” – Diane Arbus

9. “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

10. “There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment.” – Robert Frank

11. “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson

12. “Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing Oreo cookies.” – Diane Arbus

13. “When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.” – Ansel Adams

14. “In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.” – Alfred Stieglitz

15. “The best camera is the one you have with you.” – Chase Jarvis

16. ““You don’t take a photograph. You ask quietly to borrow it.” – Unknown

17. “To photograph is to hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson

18. “Photographs open doors into the past, but they also allow a look into the future.” – Sally Mann

19. “The camera is a save button for the mind’s eye.” – Roger Kingston

20. “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” – Thomas Jefferson

21. “Life is like a camera. Just focus on what’s important and capture the good times.” – Unknown

22. “One advantage of photography is that it’s visual and can transcend language.” – Lisa Kristine

23. “Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.” – Yousuf Karsh

24. “The eye should learn to listen before it looks.” – Robert Frank

25. “The camera is an excuse to be someplace you otherwise don’t belong. It gives me both a point of connection and a point of separation.” – Susan Meiselas

Quote List 51 – 75

In this section, we have compiled a list of inspiring photography quotes from renowned photographers and artists to motivate and fuel your passion for photography.

51. “A picture you take with your camera is what you imagine with reality.” – Steve McCurry

52. “The camera has always been a guide, and it’s allowed me to see things and focus on things that maybe an average person wouldn’t even notice.” – David Bailey

53. “To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place.” – Elliott Erwitt

54. “Lighting adds emotion to your photos.” – Joe McNally

55. “A landscape image cuts across all political and national boundaries; it transcends the constraints of language and culture.” – Tim Walker

56. “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.” – Sally Mann

57. “Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field.” – Peter Adams

58. “The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.” – Unknown

59. “Cameras don’t take photos, photographers do.” – Unknown

60. “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” – Robert Capa

61. “Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.” – Don McCullin

62. “The art of observation defines the way you see the world.” – Unknown

63. “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” – Elliott Erwitt

64. “A good photograph is like a good hound dog, dumb, but eloquent.” – Eugene Atget

65. “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” – Ansel Adams

66. “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

67. “The camera is an excuse to be someplace you otherwise don’t belong. It gives me both a point of connection and a point of separation.” – Susan Meiselas

68. “To consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk.” – Edward Weston

69. “The camera is a remarkable instrument. Saturate yourself with your subject, and the camera will all but take you by the hand and point the way.” – Margaret Bourke-White

70. “Photography is like a language; it has rules that need to be mastered, but once you know the rules, art can truly be expressed.” – Destin Sparks

71. “There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.” – Ernst Haas

72. “The camera sees more than the eye, so why not make use of it?” – Edward Weston

73. “It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.” – Alfred Eisenstaedt

74. “The eye should learn to listen before it looks.” – Robert Frank

75. “The camera makes you forget you’re there. It’s not like you are hiding but you forget, you are just looking so much.” – Annie Leibovitz

Remember to keep exploring, learning, and practicing your photography skills to create images that capture those incredible moments in life.

Quote List 76 – 100

Here is a curated list of inspiring photography quotes from famous photographers, designed to ignite your passion and direct your attention towards the significance of capturing an event.

76. “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” – Ansel Adams
77. “When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.” – Robert Frank
78. “The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.” – Andy Warhol
79. “Photography can only represent the present. Once photographed, the subject becomes part of the past.” – Berenice Abbott
80. “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.” – Diane Arbus
81. “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.” – Edward Steichen
82. “Photography is an austere and blazing poetry of the real.” – Ansel Adams
83. “Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.” – Don McCullin
84. “The camera makes you forget you’re there. It’s not like you are hiding but you forget, you are just looking so much.” – Annie Leibovitz
85. “Photography can never grow up if it imitates some other medium. It has to walk alone; it has to be itself.” – Berenice Abbott
86. “Photography is the only language that can be understood anywhere in the world.” – Bruno Barbey
87. “Photography is a love affair with life.” – Burk Uzzle
88. “The camera should be used for a recording of life, for rendering the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself, whether it be polished steel or palpitating flesh.” – Edward Weston
89. “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” – Dorothea Lange
90. “Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness.” – Yousuf Karsh
91. “I believe in the photographer’s magic — the ability to stir the soul with light and shape and colour. To create grand visual moments out of small and simple things, and to infuse big and complicated subjects with unpretentious elegance.” – Ami Vitale
92. “The true secret of brilliant photos lies in manipulation of the viewer’s imagination, heart, and soul.” – George Eastman
93. “The camera is a remarkable instrument. Saturate yourself with your subject, and the camera will all but take you by the hand and point the way.” – Margaret Bourke-White
94. “There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.” – Ernst Haas
95. “Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation, and execution.” – Ansel Adams
96. “Taking pictures is savouring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” – Marc Riboud
97. “Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees.” – Paul Strand
98. “For me, the camera is a sketchbook, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
99. “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
100. “I am forever chasing light. Light turns the ordinary into the magical.” – Trent Parke

These quotes serve as a reminder for both amateur and professional photographers about the importance of talent, vision, and dedication to the art of capturing moments. May they inspire you to continue honing your skills and create extraordinary images.

Footnotes

1. https://photographylife.com/photography-quotes ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. https://petapixel.com/photography-quotes/ ↩ ↩²

3. https://shotkit.com/photography-quotes/ ↩

4. https://mymodernmet.com/photography-quotes/ ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. https://www.pixpa.com/blog/quotes-about-photography ↩

6. https://dreamypixel.com/photography-quotes/ ↩

7. https://contrastly.com/photography-quotes/ ↩

8. https://www.picturecorrect.com/photography-quotes/ ↩

9. https://www.artquotes.net/photography-quotes/ ↩

10. https://expertphotography.com/photography-quotes/ ↩

11. https://www.boredpanda.com/photography-quotes/ ↩

12. https://www.profoto.com/photography-quotes/ ↩

13. https://www.icp.org/photography-quotes/ ↩

14. https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/photography-quotes/ ↩

15. https://aperture.org/photography-quotes/ ↩

16. https://www.magnumphotos.com/photography-quotes/ ↩

17. https://artplusmarketing.com/photography-quotes/ ↩

18. https://www.nyip.edu/photography-articles/photography-quotes/ ↩

19. https://www.photographytalk.com/photography-quotes/ ↩