Mary Ellen Mark
[Photographer, b. 1940, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, d. 2015, New York.]
In a portrait, you always leave part of yourself behind.
Robert Doisneau
[Photographer, b. 1912, Gentilly, Val-de-Marne, France, d. 1994, Montrouge, France.]
A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there—even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity.
Sally Mann
[Photographer, b. 1951, Lexington, Virginia, lives in Lexington.]
I believe that photographs actually rob us of our memory.
Subcommander Marcos (Rafael Sebastian Guillén Vicente)
[Professor and revolutionary, b. 1957, Tampico, Mexico, lives in Chiapas, Mexico.]
... the photographer is a thief who chooses what he steals (which, at this stage of the crisis, is a luxury) and does not “democratize” the image, that is to say, the photographer selects the pictures, a privilege which ought to be granted to the person being photographed.
Christian Boltanski
[Artist, b. 1944, Paris, lives in Paris.]
No, I never take photographs myself. I don’t feel like a photographer, more like a recycler.
Diane Arbus
[Photographer, b. 1923, New York, d. 1971, New York.]
Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing Oreo cookies.?
Richard Prince
[Artist, b. 1949, Panama Canal Zone, lives in New York.]
What I find is that the taking, the stealing, the appropriation of images has to do with prior availability, and it sets up a degree where things can be shared... It’s like 50% off... You can let something of another emotion or another personality sign on your work, or co-sign it.
Yousuf Karsh
[Photographer, b. 1908, Mardin, Armenia, d. 2002, Boston, Massachusetts.]
I try to photograph people’s spirits and thoughts. As to the soul-taking by the photographer, I don’t feel I take away, but rather that the sitter and I give to each other. It becomes an act of mutual participation.
