Welcome to our collection of inspiring Photographer Quotes! Photography is not just a form of art; it’s a powerful medium that captures moments, emotions, and stories. Behind every remarkable photograph lies the vision, skill, and dedication of the photographer. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or an aspiring enthusiast, the wisdom shared by renowned photographers can offer invaluable insights and motivation on your journey through the lens.
In this curated compilation, we delve into the minds of celebrated photographers who have left an indelible mark on the world of visual storytelling. From iconic figures like Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson to contemporary masters like Annie Leibovitz and Steve McCurry, their words resonate with passion, creativity, and a deep appreciation for the art of photography. Each quote encapsulates the essence of what it means to wield a camera as a tool for expression, observation, and connection with the world around us. Whether you seek inspiration for your next shoot, guidance on technique, or simply a moment of reflection, these quotes offer a glimpse into the profound impact of photography on our lives.
Below, you’ll find a treasure trove of insightful quotes from photographers across generations and genres. Feel free to explore, draw inspiration, and perhaps even adorn your own images with these timeless words. Let the wisdom of these photographers ignite your creativity and fuel your passion for the art of capturing moments in time.
Sometimes when I’m being photographed, I hear the voice of this photographer who told me when I was about six while he was taking my school photo that I didn’t have a nice smile, and I shouldn’t smile in photos. Brad Goreski
There are so many things I want to do. Like, I want to get an artist, a musician, a photographer, and a bunch of dancers that I know and just travel across Africa and just film it and just see what happens. Do and learn as much as I possibly can. Luckily, I have a lot more time. Channing Tatum
At the beginning, Edo was a photographer, and I was more of a talent scout and doing styling and modelling. Then all of a sudden, in 1977, he gave me a Polaroid camera, and I discovered that instead of having to go to a lab and develop the film, I could just take a click and get a picture! It was genius, and I was very good at manipulating it. Maripol
Truthfully, I don’t really think of myself as a photographer. I don’t have all the disciplines and knowledge of a person who’s spent their life devoted to photography. Patti Smith
I really had a great time shooting for Dabboo Ratnani. He is such an experienced photographer and works in perfection. Shehnaaz Gill
It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary. David Bailey
I never wanted to be called an artist. I wanted to be called a photographer. Richard Avedon
My mom’s an artist in every way. She’s a painter, a photographer. She’s a wanderer – always searching, always seeing. I guess you could say my mom gave me her eyes. Jason Momoa
I wanted to be a rocker and photographer and tour the world! Ludovico Einaudi
If a photographer cares about the people before the lens and is compassionate, much is given. Eve Arnold
The job of the color photographer is to provide some level of abstraction that can take the image out of the daily. Joel Sternfeld
Yves Saint Laurent was my first fashion show. I wore his tuxedo. And Helmut Newton was my first photographer, in 1973. I was really very lucky. I had an amazing career. Jerry Hall
My big dream was to work as a photographer for ‘National Geographic.’ Steffi Graf
There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer. Ansel Adams
Whether he is an artist or not, the photographer is a joyous sensualist, for the simple reason that the eye traffics in feelings, not in thoughts. Walker Evans
I’m in the early stages of a film called ‘Freezing Time’ about Eadweard Muybridge, the Victorian photographer who was really the forefather of cinema. Digital animators still treat his images like the Bible. He was a very obsessed man. Andy Serkis
You know, my dad wasn’t a photographer or filmmaker by profession, but on Sundays, he would take pictures of me and my family or his pals horseback riding, and it was a means of communication and affection, a means of not being so dysfunctional with each other. Bruce Weber
I’m married to Kevin, a photographer whose career has put him on the campaign trail with presidential candidates and sent him on assignment to far-flung places for long periods of time. It was sometimes rough when our children were small, and I was beginning to write in earnest. Nancy Horan
The thing that makes writing so difficult is you don’t have the element of serendipity. At least with a photograph, you can set up the camera, and something might happen. You might be a lousy photographer, but you can get a good picture if you just take enough of them. Sally Mann
My friend Danny Clinch, who’s a photographer, gave me a big, signed, numbered print of a photo he took of Eddie Vedder in Seattle. It’s hung in my writing room where I have posters of writers that inspire me. They’re all pointing at me. Tom Waits is like, ‘Don’t sell out!’ Brian Fallon
You have to assume that everything you do is public knowledge. Everything. Because now everyone is a reporter. Everyone is a photographer. Derek Jeter
I love it when a photographer lets me create my own movement and feeling to the images. By that I mean he doesn’t restrict me in his or her own ideas but rather gives me a direction and lets me work within those boundaries freely. Kylie Bax
I went on tour with the Rolling Stones in 1972 for two or three cities. And in 1975, I was the tour photographer for the Rolling Stones. I hung onto my camera for dear life. Because it scared the hell out of me. Annie Leibovitz
Sometimes they are a matter of luck; the photographer could not expect or hope for them. Sometimes they are a matter of patience, waiting for an effect to be repeated that he has seen and lost or for one that he anticipates. Bill Brandt
My youngest son becomes an award-winning nature photographer, and I cannot resist writing poems to his pictures. My daughter loves to cook, though I do not. Yet together, we write a cookbook with fairy tales. And now a second. Jane Yolen
Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper the photographer begins with the finished product. Edward Steichen
It’s good that everyone has an opportunity to take pictures, the chance to be a photographer. Some are good, too. But the bad thing is that it’s very, very difficult to take a great picture. Everyone can take a good picture – even a child – but it’s hard to make a great one. Mary Ellen Mark
I don’t want to do panel games or adverts. I really like challenges. I always get roles as an art teacher or a photographer. In the future I want to play something like a mugger/assassin/pastry chef. Dylan Moran
That’s true, because I’m a photographer now. Leonard Nimoy
Thus, during the winter of 2003 I ventured into a new arena as a professional photographer. Janine Turner
My dad’s a photographer, and my sister is a writer and a poet. My little brother is a mandolin player – he’s a bluegrass musician. It’s always been a part of the family. Timothy Simons
The most important thing you learn as a sports photographer is anticipation – not where the action is taking place, but where it’s going to take place. Not where the subject is now, but where they’re going to be. Lawrence Schiller
Within every man and woman a secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can. Yousuf Karsh
My closest friends are Roger Moore, who is an actor, Sean Connery, who is an actor, Terry O’Neill, who is a photographer, Johnny Gold, who was the boss of Tramp, and Leslie Bricusse, who is a composer. Michael Caine
If you’re a photographer, you end up being the raw creative force that allows other people to see what kind of narrative you want to be giving or what kind of art that you want people to see. Cole Sprouse
A mad, keen photographer needs to get out into the world and work and make mistakes. Sam Abell
It wasn’t until I became a mother that I started to refer to myself as an artist as opposed to a fine art photographer. Zoe Buckman
As a photographer, I don’t really have a view of the world in general. Someone taking pictures for ‘National Geographic’ might. Each of us works to our full capacity when we’re in the midst of a shoot. Each of us finds our own level of intensity, and that’s the fun of it. Gerard Malanga
I have been frequently accused of deliberately twisting subject matter to my point of view. Above all, I know that life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference. Opinion often consists of a kind of criticism. But criticism can come out of love. Robert Frank
Not long ago, every time I did a picture shoot for a magazine, the photographer would ask me to show up wearing jeans and cowboy boots. They seemed to think I was a hillbilly. Now it’s different. Now they’re not quite sure what to make of me. And I show up wearing whatever I want. Troy Aikman
I hope to stay unemployed as a war photographer till the end of my life. Robert Capa
My mom was a medical photographer, but on the side, she did a before-and-after glam photography business in the house. She would do makeup and hair – and I was her assistant. Tyra Banks
I am a tender, beautiful and loving guy that happens to slap a photographer now and then because they get in my way. Liam Gallagher
One of the biggest mistakes a photographer can make is to look at the real world and cling to the vain hope that next time his film will somehow bear a closer resemblance to it. Galen Rowell
What you need to be a good photographer is an overwhelming curiosity and a good digestion. Sometimes you feel blessed with curiosity, sometimes you feel cursed with it. Eve Arnold
When you’re modeling you’re actually acting for the camera and the photographer. It’s more fun, too because there are no lines to memorize. Cindy Margolis
Every time I take a photo, it goes into SnapSeed. Even if it’s just a price tag on something, it still goes into SnapSeed, and I start editing it. I’m not a photographer, so I need all the help I can get when it comes to make a picture look cool. Hunter Hayes
I was the official wedding photographer at one of my best friends’ weddings. Fortunately she was one of the most easygoing brides ever, so she made it easy for me. Natalie Coughlin
I understood that synergistic dance between photographer and object – ‘muse,’ if you will, ‘model,’ whatever you call us. It’s that silent language of communication, like being psychic with each other. Carmen Dell’Orefice
I can get obsessed by anything if I look at it long enough. That’s the curse of being a photographer. Irving Penn
No matter how slow the film, Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer It has chosen. Minor White
Then I thought I was going to be a photographer. I tried a hand at darkroom technician. I played in a band. It took me quite some time to discover that I wanted to write. Guy Johnson
Everyone with a cell phone thinks they’re a photographer. Everyone with a laptop thinks they’re a journalist. But they have no training, and they have no idea of what we keep to in terms of standards, as in what’s far out and what’s reality. And they have no dedication to truth. Helen Thomas
I did some artistic nudes when I was I 8 with a French-Canadian photographer while I was modeling. They were beautiful shots, and they were not about nudity. Lexa Doig
If the chemistry is right between star and photographer and the geometry of the pictures pleases the star, often the two people end up with a long-term professional friendship during which they continue to work together and to produce highly personal images. Eve Arnold
I’m a married gay man, so you might think that I appreciate the government forcing a Christian baker or photographer or florist to act against their religion in order to cater, photograph, or decorate my wedding. But you’d be wrong. A government that can force Christians to violate their conscience can force me to violate mine. Dave Rubin
It is a serious job being a portrait photographer, which is how I saw myself. Astrid Kirchherr
People are so wonderful that a photographer has only to wait for that breathless moment to capture what he wants on film. Weegee
The subject matter is so much more important than the photographer. Gordon Parks
The reason I call myself a documentary photographer is the idea of how photographs contain and participate in history. Catherine Opie
My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain. Helmut Newton
Sometimes I’m amazed by how much you can do as a photographer. Saul Leiter
Your aim as a photographer is to get a picture of that person that means something. Portraits aren’t fantasies; they need to tell a truth. Tim Walker
It is a peculiar part of the good photographer’s adventure to know where luck is most likely to lie in the stream, to hook it, and to bring it in without unfair play and without too much subduing it. James Agee
I’m not a photographer, so I didn’t get into F-stops or ND filters or background, foreground, cross-light, all that stuff. But I was interested in the camera and the lenses. That’s the world that I’m moving in, in terms of acting and giving a performance. Keanu Reeves
I’ll always be an amateur photographer. Elliott Erwitt
And I’m a pretty avid photographer, I’ve been into photography for years now, so I try to spend some of my free time with that. Danny McBride
We will literally send a van and a photographer to the home of anybody that can say they can’t get a picture made and a photo ID and we will do it… at the state’s cost and the taxpayer cost and not at the individual cost. Phil Gingrey
I was there less than a year before I was assigned to the Paris bureau. I spent two years there and, in fact, before I even went on the staff I was sent to Europe to do assignments which they wouldn’t normally do for a young photographer just starting out. Gordon Parks
People are at their best when they can be natural. And that’s the hardest thing as a photographer. Platon
It is part of the photographer’s job to see more intensely than most people do. He must have and keep in him something of the receptiveness of the child who looks at the world for the first time or of the traveler who enters a strange country. Bill Brandt
I am a professional photographer because it is the best way I know to earn the money I require to take care of my wife and children. Irving Penn
There’s a kind of telepathy that goes on with the photographer and model. Jerry Hall
‘The Gardener’ is more than a marvellous collection of images by a master photographer. John Burnside
The photographer begins to feel big and bloated and so big he can’t walk through one of these doors because he gets a good byline; he gets notices all over the world and so forth; but they’re really – the important people are the people he photographs. Gordon Parks
I’m very lucky that I’m not a photographer for hire – people hire me for me. I go into every commercial work with an art focus, with that lens; every brand I’ve worked for just lets me do whatever I want to do. I have full creative freedom. Petra Collins
I was in Florida with Burt Stern, the photographer who shot Marilyn Monroe on the beach with a sweater, and we smoked a joint. The bathing suit kept coming off in the water, and I just ripped it off. I was very comfortable being naked. Rosanna Arquette
Billions of photos are shot every year, and about the toughest thing a photographer can do is invent an original, deeply personal, instantly recognizable visual style. In the early nineties, Wolfgang Tillmans did just that, transforming himself into a new kind of artist-photographer of modern life. Jerry Saltz
Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance. Nancy Pelosi
I like it when one is not certain what one sees. When we do not know why the photographer has taken a picture and when we do not know why we are looking at it, all of a sudden we discover something that we start seeing. I like this confusion. Saul Leiter
What is right? Simply put, it is any assignment in which the photographer has a significant spiritual stake… spiritually driven work constitutes the core of a photographer’s contribution to culture. William Albert Allard
I’m not a serious photographer like many of my contemporaries. That is to say, I am serious about not being serious. Elliott Erwitt
My first big job was an Abercrombie &Fitch campaign. But my mom wouldn’t let me skip school for it, so I missed half of the shoot. When we got there, we realized Bruce Weber was the photographer; we knew we had made a mistake! Lauren Bush
I got five kids, and my oldest is a documentary film maker and camera man, and still photographer. Beau Bridges
Over the years, my work became both my vocation and avocation. Since I enjoyed it so much, I never felt a great need to go outside for relaxation. Nevertheless, I became an avid photographer and traveler. Possibly my love for travel stems from the early years when my family seldom went away on vacation. Gertrude B. Elion
I’ve worked with the Los Angeles Zoo for 45 years, and we have this magnificent photographer, Tad Motoyama. He takes these wonderful, wonderful animal pictures. All through the years he’s given me copies of these pictures. Well, I have all these gorgeous ones, so I said, ‘Tad, I want to do a book with your picture on one side.’ Betty White
Who sees the human face correctly: the photographer, the mirror, or the painter? Pablo Picasso
I look at ordinary objects, and I see things that other people don’t see. That’s why I’m a photographer. Ruth Bernhard
I go back and forth, but I never wanted to be the photographer of the gay and lesbian community. I will wave a rainbow flag proudly, but I am not a singular identity. I think a singular identity isn’t very interesting, and I’m a little bit more multifaceted as a person than that. Catherine Opie
It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument. Eve Arnold
I guess that’s what I was: a set of abs. And they lit the abs and shot the abs and sent the abs on their way. The photographer didn’t look at my face once. I was humiliated. Michael Bergin
In America, the photographer is not simply the person who records the past, but the one who invents it. Susan Sontag
The painter constructs, the photographer discloses. Susan Sontag
It wasn’t until my girlfriend, photographer Jennifer Rovero, took hundreds of pictures of me as I recovered from my amputations that things started to change. The process was a sort of therapy for me, which Jennifer coined as ‘photo therapy.’ I grew to see the beauty and strength in myself and my journey through the lens of her camera. Lauren Wasser
I’m an amateur photographer, apart from being a professional one, and I think maybe my amateur pictures are the better ones. Elliott Erwitt
I was the Playmate editor for ‘Playboy’ for two years. I produced two years’ worth of centerfolds. I did everything on that, from picking the girls to designing the sets to picking the wardrobe, coming up with themes, assigning the photographer, down to editing the photos and approving the retouching. Holly Madison
If I had sat around and waited until I had an idea to be a successful photographer, I would still be in finance. Brandon Stanton
I didn’t decide to be a photographer; I just happened to fall into it. Berenice Abbott
By the time I met Julia Child, her husband, Paul, was little more than a ghost of a man, so diminished by old age and its attendant diseases that it was impossible to discern the remarkable artist, photographer and poet he once had been. Ruth Reichl
Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment. Ansel Adams
