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10 Best Photographer Quotes of All Time

Elliott-Erwitt-New-York-City

Photographers typically reach fame thanks to one or several iconic shots, or perhaps thanks to a unique style they may have developed. They share their unique point of view with the world, captured through their lens.

But, every now and then a pearl of wisdom gets passed on, and here at Agora we wanted to share them with you. So here are the top 10 photographer quotes you will ever need to read (and a bonus here one to get you started)!

Of what use are lens and light to those who lack in mind and sight?

– Anonymous

Elliott Erwitt

“You can find pictures anywhere. It’s simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them. You just have to care about what’s around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy.”

– Elliott Erwitt
Elliott-Erwitt-New-York-City-Dogs
Ansel Adams

“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”

– Ansel Adams
Ansel-Adams-Jeffrey-Pine-Sentinel-Dome-Yosemite-National-Park-California-1945
Don McCullin

“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
Annie_Leibovitz

“One doesn’t stop seeing. One doesn’t stop framing. It doesn’t turn off and turn on. It’s on all the time.”

– Annie Leibovitz
annie-leibovitz-meryl-streep-1981
annie-leibovitz-Leonardo-Di-Caprio
Frank Van Riper

“…looking at, studying, and absorbing good photography serves the same purpose for a beginning photographer. That is because learning the components of a good image – composition, lighting, gesture – and seeing those elements used differently over and over by different masters, makes it easier for a person to achieve the same end on his or her own over time. And there is simply is no alternative to this, no shortcut.”

– Frank Van Riper
Frank-Van-Riper_Rodin-Museum
Henri Cartier Bresson

“In photography, you’ve got to be quick, quick, quick, quick. Like an animal and a prey.”

– Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Yousuf Karsh

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

– Yousuf Karsh
Bill Brandt

“A photographer must possess and retain the receptive faculties of a child who watches the world for the first time.”

– Bill Brandt

Robert Capa

“If your pictures aren’t good enough you’re not close enough.”

– Robert Capa
Robert-Capa-The-Falling-Soldier-1936
Joe McNally

“Don’t pack up your camera until you’ve left the location.”

– Joe McNally
Joe McNally


QUESTIONS FOR THE AGORA COMMUNITY

Which of these photographer quotes is your favorite ? Want to see another blog post like this; share your favorite photographer quote with us below!