Marc Riboud
[Photographer, b. 1923, St.-Genis-Laval, France, d. 2016, Paris.]
The target of our line of sight is reality, but our framing can transform it into a dream.
I’ve always been shy, and I’ve always been trying to ignore the people I was photographing so that they ignore me.
Photography should not try to prove anything, but it can convince when it is not trying to convince anyone. It can’t change the world, but it can show what the world is like, especially as it changes.
For me, the photographer is a witness. His job is to record real events rather than to stage or create something in front of the camera.
[Turning a photograph upside down is] the best way to judge a photo. That way you see how it’s really composed.
[Photographers] shouldn’t think of themselves as witnesses, only because they walk around with a camera. Forget about witnessing. Say to yourself that photography is a little everyday job. Stick to your curiosity, live it as a passion, nourish it by giving up as many ties as possible with your home place, because ties make you worry, and when you worry you don’t see so well.
