111 Photography Quotes to Inspire
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By Ann Young 2 days ago Inspiration
Over 100 photography quotes to motivate you to wake up every morning and take amazing photos!
Photography Quotes for Instagram
There is nothing that can complete your Instagram pic more than a great caption with necessary hashtags. Have a look at our collection of superb photography quotes for Instagram said be professional photographers.
- “My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.”
— Steve McCurry - “A photograph shouldn't be just a picture, it should be a philosophy.”
- “All the technique in the world doesn't compensate for the inability to notice”
- “The picture that you took with your camera is the imagination you want to create with reality.”
- “My camera is my weapon. When I shoot, my photos are the evidence.”
- “Walking the streets with camera in hand is akin to being on a treasure hunt as a child.”
- “Photography is like exploring a new dimension, only I can go there but I can show you where I've been.”
- “Thanks to photography, some memories overstay their welcome.”
- “Most of the views are visible to everyone but only those who had passion can see it beyond.”
- “Within every man and woman a secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can.”
- “Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.”
- “I tend to think of the act of photographing, generally speaking, as an adventure. My favorite thing is to go where I’ve never been.”
- “Photography is a love affair with life.”
— Burk Uzzle - “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
- “When I photograph, what I’m really doing is seeking answers to things.”
— Wynn Bullock - “You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it.”
- “There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.”
— Ansel Adams
Short Photography Quotes
If you are looking for some striking, catchy and short photography quotes for your photography business cards or logos, photography status on Facebook, etc. we’ve gathered some beautiful quotes on photography topic to cut right to the chase.
- “I don’t trust words. I trust pictures.”
– Gilles Peress - “Allow yourself to be surprised by your mistakes.”
― Fer Juaristi - “When I have a camera in my hand, I know no fear.”
– Alfred Eisenstaedt
- “The camera sees more than the eye, so why not make use of it?”
— Edward Weston - “Once photography enters your bloodstream, it is like a disease.”
- “Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.”
— Imogen Cunningham - “When people ask me what equipment I use – I tell them my eyes.”
- “I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.”
— Diane Arbus
- “I’ve always believed that photography is a way to shape human perception.”
— James Balog - “Today everything exists to end in a photograph.”
— Susan Sontag - “Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase.”
— Percy W. Harris - “I think of photography like therapy.”
— Harry Gruyaert - “Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like.”
— David Alan Harvey
- “Fear is the thing that prohibits a lot of photographers from reaching their full potential.”
— Collin Pierson - “Only photograph what you love.”
— Tim Walker - “I like to photograph anyone before they know what their best angles are.”
— Ellen Von Unwerth - “Photography is the story I fail to put into words.”
— Destin Sparks
Funny Photography Quotes
If you have a sense of humor and are looking for hilarious wedding captions for photos - check out these funny photography quotes that will make you burst out laughing.
- “If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event. what kind of camera would you use?”
- “Photographers are very mean: first they frame you, than they shoot you, than they hang you on the wall.”
- “Buy a professional camera and you are a professional photographer. Buy a flute and you own a flute.”
- "Just be prepared to look back in a few years on yourself, and your photos, and laugh.”
- “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
― Henri Cartier-Bresson - “Most things in life are moments of pleasure and a lifetime of embarrassment; photography is a moment of embarrassment and a lifetime of pleasure.”
― Tony Benn - “There are no bad pictures; that’s just how your face looks sometimes.”
— Abraham Lincoln
- “Gosh, my job is so easy! I just click a button all day… said no photographer ever.”
- “You might be a photographer if: Your eyesight from staring at the computer has gone from F11 to F1.8.”
— Naman Pokarna’s Photography - “Today, I am going to shoot someone… and they will love me for it!”
- “How many photographers does it take to change a lightbulb? 50. One to change the bulb and forty-nine to say “I could have done that”
- “A definition of a professional photographer: A "pro" NEVER shows anybody the mistakes.”
- “You might be a photographer if you justify not working out because you are always chasing babies and brides.”
- “Oh! Such beautiful photos! Apparently, you have a very expensive camera Oh! Thank you, the dinner was amazing! Apparently, you have very good pans!”
- “I am a plastic surgeon, a magician, a stylist, a social media guru, a therapist, a master of light. I am photographer”
- “Phew. I have all the gear i will ever need. Said no photographer ever.”
- “How to irritate your photographer: ask to see each shot immediately after it’s taken.”
Inspirational Photography Quotes
These 20 photography quotes from Tumblr, books and interviews will help keep your spirit high and give you the push you desperately need.
- "When photographs are emotionally honest, it can feel scary for the photographer. It’s easier to hide behind a facade of prettiness that makes everything flat and formulaic. But it’s the deeply moving photos that have the most meaning for the client. You need honesty and openness to be able to shoot like that. You need to notice and see people as they are and not as you expect them to be.”
― Anna Kuperberg - "We all see the world so different, why not just transfer that onto film, or digital and share your vision with the world, not someone else’s vision… if you do you will always see your images as someone else’s not yours. That feeling is not genuine.”
― Jose Villa - "The most important thing about photography is who you are, and I can go into depth about the psychology of that, but there’s no way you can take a photograph and not leave your imprint on it. Every time you hit the shutter it’s based on who you are, that’s what makes you different from every body else. My style is that I shoot from the heart, to the heart.”
― Joe Buissink
- "I feel the need to make sure that the new generation of photographers realizes that what we (some of us old timers) endeavor to do in this industry is to continue to show the world that what we do is a craft, an art form. There is no magic bullet for success. It requires dedication and hard work. And if you wish to truly excel at this craft… it requires introspection. A very deep look inside yourself.”
― Joe Buissink - "I always use my last week’s effort as my greatest inspiration. Instead of comparing myself to what photographers around me are doing, I’m always trying to beat last week’s effort.”
― Jerry Ghionis - "The most important thing for us is to always be learning, push the boundaries, and to find something new and different with each shoot.”
― Daniel and Lindsay Stark - “What’s really important is to simplify. The work of most photographers would be improved immensely if they could do one thing: get rid of the extraneous. If you strive for simplicity, you are more likely to reach the viewer.”
― William Albert Allard
- “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 - "Keep it organic and timeless and your images will withstand the test of time, stop over doing photo shoots and applying the coolest action to your digital images. All of that stuff is trendy and it will die off in no time, keep it simple and classy.”
― Jose Villa - “How do we start taking pictures of people, and stop taking pictures of poses?”
— Justin and Mary Marantz - “To me, the magic of photography, per se, is that you can capture an instant of a second that couldn’t exist before and couldn’t exist after. It’s almost like a cowboy that draws his gun. You draw a second before or after, you miss and you’re dead – not them. To me, photography’s always like that.”
— Mario Testino
- “There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”
— Ernst Haas - “You’ve got to push yourself harder. You’ve got to start looking for pictures nobody else could take. You’ve got to take the tools you have and probe deeper.”
— William Albert Allard - “There is a vast difference between taking a picture and making a photograph.”
— Robert Heinecken - “I think that emotional content is an image’s most important element, regardless of the photographic technique. Much of the work I see these days lacks the emotional impact to draw a reaction from viewers, or remain in their hearts.”
— Anne Geddes - “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 - “When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”
— Ansel Adams
Bridal Photography Quotes
For the times when you feel like your bridal photography is not good enough, here’s a compilation of photography quotes from famous photographers to give you inspiration and get you back on track.
- "The most challenging thing about photographing marriage ceremony is that all that is beautiful is true and all that is true is beautiful. As in the movie ‘Il Gattopardo’ by Luchino Visconti where truth corresponds to beauty.”
― Carlo Carletti - “If I can dig deeper and show more of who people are, aside from it being a marriage ceremony day, then I feel I’ve succeeded. Usually at the end of the night, that comes out. The party’s over, and they one hundred percent become themselves.”
― Tyler Wirken
- "I do believe that the experience my couples have, is just as important if not more as the images in the end. What I add, quietly observe, and how I lead during an event is very important that its exactly what the couple anticipates and expects. This is an endless skill to be perfected.”
― Mike Larson - "What we are doing is providing a space for couples to see how beautiful they really are.”
― Jesh de Rox - "I shoot what I want to be shooting. For instance, I never shoot an engagement session where I’m not inspired. I suggest locations to my clients and I have them come to me, then I take them to areas I know have amazing light and backdrops. it’s my playground and I do best here.”
― Jose Villa - “The people who hire me as a an event photographer hire me not just because of my photographic style, they hire me because of the style of my personality. My style and personality match, so they know they’re getting a genuine style.”
— Jared Platt
- "Marriage photography is so challenging and complex. Nothing is the same ever, so if you really want to do it right, you really have to study and focus and perform at your highest level. It is almost impossible to shoot a marriage perfectly — technically speaking, but if you decide you want to try you’ll realize you have to perform at the top of your game. You’re thinking about light, moment and the composition of every single frame. You’re reminding yourself to think outside the box; to shoot different; to shoot outside your comfort zone. You’re trying to be creative with details shots and also have a strong and solid knowledge of portraiture. Trying to do all that in an 8-12 hour period can really show you how very difficult it is to execute great photography more specifically marriage photography.”
― Daniel Aguilar - “Clients love pictures where they’re laughing versus just smiling. That’s because there’s emotion behind it. Because you’re capturing energy, not just a still image.”
— Jen Rozenbaum - “Spend more time working on posing, expressions, and creating and energy between the couple and you – they need to feel the energy that makes them react. Remember, reaction is part of the pose.”
— Roberto Valenzuela
Nature Photography Quotes
For those of you, who have discovered the love for landscape, here are 20 nature photography quotes.
- “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 - “Photograph: a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art.”
— Ambrose Bierce - “Wherever there is light, one can photograph.”
— Alfred Stieglitz - “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”
— William Shakespeare
- “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 - “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
— Albert Einstein - “Keep your love of nature, for that is the true way to understand art more and more.”
— Vincent Van Gogh - “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”
— Frank Lloyd Wright
- “The Earth has music for those who listen.”
- “Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment.”
— Ansel Adams - “Nature never goes out of style.”
- “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”
- “Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.”
- “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
- “Beautiful things don’t ask for attention.”
- “Nature – cheaper than therapy.”
- “If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
Quotes about Photo and Memories
Only quotes about photo and memories can help us accurately express how we feel about photography. Have a look at these carefully-chosen photo memory quotes.
- "The camera adds a certain sheen to things. Something about being frozen in time really makes things sparkle.”
― Brandon Stanton - “A photograph is something you can look at and remember the old times.”
- “A picture is not only a reflection of people. It's a reflection of memories of good times.”
- "A photograph never grows old. You and I change, people change all through the months and years, but a photograph always remains the same. How nice to look at a photograph of mother or father taken many years ago. You see them as you remember them. But as people live on, they change completely. That is why I think a photograph can be kind.”
― Albert Einstein - “Photographs are priceless. Capturing something nothing else will. A precious documentation of a moment standing still.”
- “What you have caught on photo is captured forever. It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
— Aaron Siskind
- “Time will never stand still and those moments that bring us such joy become memories in an instant. To capture such a moment and record it forever with the help of photography is truly monumental.”
— Joshua Atticks - “Photography is the memory of our lives.”
- “A photograph is memory in the raw.”
- “The best images are the ones that retain their strength and impact over the years, regardless of the number of times they are viewed.”
— Anne Geddes
No doubt, acquiring photographic practical skills is important, but sometimes you just lack motivation. Hope, these photography quotes have sparked your creative process and given you the push you needed.
