25 Inspirational Quotes From Photographers…and Others

Why do quotes from photographers, philosophers, and famous people throughout history interest so many? Poetic words from others have always inspired and motivated me, and I remember one of the most powerful quotes that stays with me: ”Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” – Soren Kierkegaard

It is a way to remind myself to pay attention to the present and to enjoy everything around me no matter how uninteresting it may seem.

When someone tells me they’re bored, I often think of clip from Louis C.K. show ‘Louie.’

Inspirational quotes often come from those we hold in high regard, and hold weight in our lives because they remind us to smell the roses, they might give us a little bit of motivation to do something, or even help us through a challenging time.

Whatever it may be, I found a few that rung true about photography. I hope you find them motivating as well.

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”
― Ansel Adams

“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

“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

“To photograph is to hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It’s at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.” ― Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Mind’s Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers

“A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth. ”
― Richard Avedon

“Photography is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.”
― Alfred Stieglitz

“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

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

“I see something special and show it to the camera. The moment is held until someone sees it. Then it is theirs.”
– Sam Abell

“If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you’re not out there, you’ll only hear about it.”
– Jay Maisel

“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.”
– George Eastman

“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.”
– Man Ray

“A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective.”
– Irving Penn

“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

“A lot of photographers think that if they buy a better camera they’ll be able to take better photographs. A better camera won’t do a thing for you if you don’t have anything in your head or in your heart.”
– Arnold Newman

“Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths.”
― Eddie Adams

“Look, I’m not an intellectual – I just take pictures.”
– Helmut Newton

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

“Photographers tend not to photograph what they can’t see, which is the very reason one should try to attempt it. Otherwise we’re going to go on forever just photographing more faces and more rooms and more places. Photography has to transcend description. It has to go beyond description to bring insight into the subject, or reveal the subject, not as it looks, but how does it feel?”
― Duane Michals

“There are no bad pictures; that’s just how your face looks sometimes.”
― Abraham Lincoln

“I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“A photograph is a moral decision taken in one eighth of a second. ”
― Salman Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet

“A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you.”
― Brigitte Bardot

“The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.”
– Robert Doisneau

“Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph.”
– Matt Hardy