The camera is an instrument
that teaches people how to see
without a camera.
that teaches people how to see
without a camera.
Dorothea Lange
Monday, July 28, 2025
To Fall in Love
A thing that you see in my pictures is
that I was not afraid to fall in love
with these people.
that I was not afraid to fall in love
with these people.
Annie Leibovitz
What We Are
There is only you and your camera.
The limitations in your photography
are in yourself, for what we see is
what we are.
The limitations in your photography
are in yourself, for what we see is
what we are.
Ernst Haas
The True Lens
Look and think before opening the shutter.
The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.
The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.
Yousuf Karsh
The Soul Will Drift Up
If you wait, people will forget your camera,
and the soul will drift up into view.
and the soul will drift up into view.
Steve McCurry
Friday, July 25, 2025
Subject is Everywhere
There is a subject in all that takes place
in the world as well as in our personal universe.
We cannot negate subject. It is everywhere.
In photography, the smallest thing can be
the greatest subject. The little human detail
can become a leitmotif.
in the world as well as in our personal universe.
We cannot negate subject. It is everywhere.
In photography, the smallest thing can be
the greatest subject. The little human detail
can become a leitmotif.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Thursday, July 24, 2025
It's a Wheel
Well, I suppose nothing is meant to last forever.
We have to make room for other people.
It's a wheel. You get on, you have to go the end
and then somebody else takes their place.
Now, I'm going to close and quickly run next door
to do my work.
We have to make room for other people.
It's a wheel. You get on, you have to go the end
and then somebody else takes their place.
Now, I'm going to close and quickly run next door
to do my work.
Vivian Maier
Wednesday, July 23, 2025
It's a Way of Life
To take a photograph
is to align the head,
the eye, and the heart.
It's a way of life.
is to align the head,
the eye, and the heart.
It's a way of life.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Resolve It as Art
I like the feeling of being able
to confront an experience
and resolve it as art.
to confront an experience
and resolve it as art.
Eudora Welty
Monday, July 21, 2025
Stare, Pry, Listen, Eavesdrop
Stare. It is the way to
educate your eye, and more.
Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop.
Die knowing something.
You are not here long.
educate your eye, and more.
Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop.
Die knowing something.
You are not here long.
Walker Evans
Dancing in the Perceived Gap
True art is an epiphany, an enlightening spark
dancing in the perceived gap between ourselves
and everything else.
dancing in the perceived gap between ourselves
and everything else.
Duane Preble
What Education Is
Education is the ability to
listen to almost anything
without losing your temper
or your self-confidence.
listen to almost anything
without losing your temper
or your self-confidence.
Robert Frost
A Revolutionary Act
If something inside you is real,
we will probably find it interesting,
and it will probably be universal.
So you must risk placing real emotion
at the center of your work.
Write straight into the emotional center of things.
Write toward vulnerability. Risk being unliked.
Tell the truth as you understand it.
If you're a writer, you have
a moral obligation to do this.
And it is a revolutionary act -
truth is always subversive.
we will probably find it interesting,
and it will probably be universal.
So you must risk placing real emotion
at the center of your work.
Write straight into the emotional center of things.
Write toward vulnerability. Risk being unliked.
Tell the truth as you understand it.
If you're a writer, you have
a moral obligation to do this.
And it is a revolutionary act -
truth is always subversive.
Anne Lamott
Back to Heaven and Creativity
Fearless creativity is born out of peace.
Each of us creates solely out of a clear mind,
a free-flowing mind, creativity just flowing non-stop.
We don't need pain to be creative.
So, how do you get back to heaven?
Each of us creates solely out of a clear mind,
a free-flowing mind, creativity just flowing non-stop.
We don't need pain to be creative.
So, how do you get back to heaven?
Byron Katie
Communicating What's Important to You
Loneliness does not come from
having no people around you,
but from being unable to communicate
the things that seem important to you.
having no people around you,
but from being unable to communicate
the things that seem important to you.
Carl Jung
Where Your Life Is
So, I have a little word:
"Follow your bliss."
The bliss is the message
of God to yourself.
That's where your life is.
"Follow your bliss."
The bliss is the message
of God to yourself.
That's where your life is.
Joseph Campbell
Friday, July 18, 2025
Who Says Words with My Mouth
All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I
supposed to be doing? I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I am sure of that
and I intend to end up there.
This drunkenness began in some other tavern.
When I get back around to that place,
I'll be completely sober. Meanwhile, I'm like a bird
from another continent, sitting in this aviary.
The day is coming when I fly off, but
Where did I come from, and what am I
supposed to be doing? I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I am sure of that
and I intend to end up there.
This drunkenness began in some other tavern.
When I get back around to that place,
I'll be completely sober. Meanwhile, I'm like a bird
from another continent, sitting in this aviary.
The day is coming when I fly off, but
who is it now in my ear who hears my voice?
Who says words with my mouth?
Who look out with my eyes? What is the soul?
I cannot stop asking. If I could taste one sip of an answer,
I could break out of this prison for drunks.
I didn't come here of my own accord,
and I can't leave that way.
Whoever brought me here will have to take me home.
This poetry. I never know what I'm going to say.
I don't plan it. When I'm outside the saying of it,
I get very quiet and rarely speak at all.
Shams Tabriz, if you would show your face to me again,
I could flee the imposition of this life.
Who says words with my mouth?
Who look out with my eyes? What is the soul?
I cannot stop asking. If I could taste one sip of an answer,
I could break out of this prison for drunks.
I didn't come here of my own accord,
and I can't leave that way.
Whoever brought me here will have to take me home.
This poetry. I never know what I'm going to say.
I don't plan it. When I'm outside the saying of it,
I get very quiet and rarely speak at all.
Shams Tabriz, if you would show your face to me again,
I could flee the imposition of this life.
Rumi
Maybe Nothing is Really True
I am always looking outside, trying
to say something that is true.
But maybe nothing is really true.
Except what's out there.
And what's out there is
constantly changing.
to say something that is true.
But maybe nothing is really true.
Except what's out there.
And what's out there is
constantly changing.
Robert Frank
Not a Matter of Indifference
Above all, life for a photographer
cannot be a matter of indifference.
cannot be a matter of indifference.
Robert Frank
Read a Line Twice
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.
I want them to feel the way they do
when they want to read a line
of a poem twice.
Robert Frank
Thursday, July 17, 2025
Merely in Disguise
Another belief of mine:
that everyone else my age
is an adult, whereas
I am merely in disguise.
that everyone else my age
is an adult, whereas
I am merely in disguise.
Margaret Atwood
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
A Funny Mixture
Street photographers tend to be gregarious
in the sense that they can go out on the street
and they're comfortable being among people.
But, they're also a funny mixture of solitaries
at the same time as being gregarious.
You observe, and you embrace, and you take in,
but you stay back, and you try to stay invisible.
in the sense that they can go out on the street
and they're comfortable being among people.
But, they're also a funny mixture of solitaries
at the same time as being gregarious.
You observe, and you embrace, and you take in,
but you stay back, and you try to stay invisible.
Joel Meyerowitz
Monday, July 14, 2025
Life Will Give You Pictures
You just have to live and
life will give you pictures.
life will give you pictures.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Continually Vanishing
Photographers deal in things
which are continually vanishing
and when they have vanished
there is no contrivance on earth
which can make them come back again.
which are continually vanishing
and when they have vanished
there is no contrivance on earth
which can make them come back again.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Life Itself Offers You
Your eye must see a composition or
an expression that life itself offers you,
and you must know with intuition
when to click the camera.
an expression that life itself offers you,
and you must know with intuition
when to click the camera.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
The Moment and Its Eternity
Photography is, for me
a spontaneous impulse
coming from an ever-attentive eye
which captures the moment and
its eternity.
a spontaneous impulse
coming from an ever-attentive eye
which captures the moment and
its eternity.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Friday, July 11, 2025
Mystery of the Moment
To the mind there is such a thing as news,
whereas to the inner knowing, it is all
in the middle of its happening.
To doubters, this is pain.
To believers, it's gospel.
To the lover and the visionary,
it is life as it's being lived.
whereas to the inner knowing, it is all
in the middle of its happening.
To doubters, this is pain.
To believers, it's gospel.
To the lover and the visionary,
it is life as it's being lived.
Rumi
Finding No Home
Whoever wants music instead of noise,
joy instead of pleasure, soul instead of gold,
creative work instead of business,
passion instead of foolery, finds no home
joy instead of pleasure, soul instead of gold,
creative work instead of business,
passion instead of foolery, finds no home
in this trivial world of ours.
Hermann Hesse
Thursday, July 10, 2025
Reviving Your Soul
Sit quietly and listen for a voice
that will say, Be more silent.
As that happens, your soul starts to revive.
that will say, Be more silent.
As that happens, your soul starts to revive.
Rumi
Instructions for Living
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Mary Oliver
Nothing's More Interesting
Photograph the world as it is.
Nothing's more interesting
Nothing's more interesting
than reality.
Mary Ellen Mark
The Lucky Ones
Flowers are sweet.
They have short, beatific lives.
They offer much pleasure.
There is nothing in
the world that can be
said against them.
Sad, isn't it, that all they can
kiss is the air. Yes, yes!
We are the lucky ones.
They have short, beatific lives.
They offer much pleasure.
There is nothing in
the world that can be
said against them.
Sad, isn't it, that all they can
kiss is the air. Yes, yes!
We are the lucky ones.
Mary Oliver
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Do it!
The principle to pick up a camera
should always be something along
the lines of curiosity, to have fun,
because you love photography,
and never for recognition.
Because fame, however it might
meet you in life, should never be
a means but a consequence of your work.
And your work, that should be based
on your vision. And if you don't like
the word vision, let's use perspective
or how you see the world.
You might take inspiration from others
but should never compare yourself to others.
And if you feel like taking a picture of a bin,
do it!
should always be something along
the lines of curiosity, to have fun,
because you love photography,
and never for recognition.
Because fame, however it might
meet you in life, should never be
a means but a consequence of your work.
And your work, that should be based
on your vision. And if you don't like
the word vision, let's use perspective
or how you see the world.
You might take inspiration from others
but should never compare yourself to others.
And if you feel like taking a picture of a bin,
do it!
Tatiana Hopper (inspired by Vivian Maier)
The Quality of a Painter
The quality of a painter depends on
how much of the past he carries with him.
how much of the past he carries with him.
Pablo Picasso
Monday, July 7, 2025
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