My Ten Favorite Photography Quotes

A photo may be worth a thousand words, as it has often been said, but sometimes just a few words or sentences can help explain a thousand or more photographs. And while thousands of illuminating remarks may have been written or uttered about photography, here are my ten favorite photography quotes, plus a couple of bonus quotes to make it an even dozen (the list keeps growing).

“Photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them” – Elliot Erwin

“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment ” – Ansel Adams

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

“What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time” – John Berger

“With photography, I always think that it’s not good enough” – Lynsey Addario

“Photography to the amateur is recreation, to the professional it is work, and hard work too, no matter how pleasurable it may be” – Edward Weston

“I think photographers are too polite. There is not enough anger in photography” – Duane Michals

“Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world” – Arnold Newman

“To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event” – Henri Cartier-Bresson

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer” – Ansel Adams

“My best photographs always had a strong personal vision. If they didn’t communicate a vision or an emotion, they failed” – Galen Rowell

And lastly…

“You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzky

If you have a favorite photography quote of your own, please share it with us in the comments section.