~ If photography were difficult in the true sense . . . that the creation of a simple photograph would entail as much time and effort as the production of a good watercolor or etching -- there would be a vast improvement in total output. ~
~ If the man who paints only the tree, or flower, or other surface he sees before him were an artist, the king of artists would be the photographer. It is for the artist to do something beyond this. ~
~ In photography, if I am able to evoke not only a feeling of the reality of the surface physical world but also a feeling of the reality of existence that lies mysteriously and invisibly beneath its surface, I feel I have succeeded. At its best, photography is a symbol that not only serves to help illuminate some of the darkness of the unknown, but it also serves to lessen the fears that too often accompany the journeys from the known to the unknown. ~
~ 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 that man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man. ~
~ I love the medium of photography, for with its unique realism, it gives me the power to go beyond conventional ways of seeing and understanding and say -This is real, too. ~
~ The magic of photography is metaphysical. What you see in the photograph isn't what you saw at the time. The real skill of photography is organized visual lying. ~
~ A thing is not what you say it is or what you photograph it to be or what you paint it to be or what you sculpt it to be. Words, photographs, paintings, and sculptures are symbols of what you see, think, and feel things to be, but they are not the things themselves. ~
~ To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees. ~
~ If you're photographing in color you show the color of their clothes - if you use black and white, you will show the color of their soul. ~
~ The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking. ~
~ Photography can never grow up if it imitates some other medium. It has
to walk alone; it has to be itself. ~
~ I love the medium of photography, for with its unique realism it gives me the power to go beyond conventional ways of seeing and understanding and say, "This is real, too." ~