Philip Jones Griffiths
[Photojournalist, b. 1936, Rhuddian, Wales, d. 2008, London.]
... faking has enjoyed a quantum leap with the advent of computerized manipulation. Now, with digital cameras, there is no “original” to compare... Fraudulent practice is easy and detection difficult, and photography will never be the same again.
Laurel Nakadate
[Video artist and photographer, b. 1975, Austin, Texas, lives in New York.]
I believe photography is about choosing to live, being brave. Looking is an act of courage. It’s terrifying. It’s possible to see too much, to witness things that we cannot hold.
Donald McCullin
[Photographer, b. 1935, Finsbury Park, London, lives in Somerset, England.]
The darkroom can be cruel. You have to talk your way through your printing, alone, sometimes you turn the radio on and listen to trash music. When I finish, I wash everything meticulously, I dust everything, it’s like paying a homage to the spiritual power that could destroy me. And I won’t let it. Something else will destroy me—but it won’t be the darkroom, it won’t be photography. I am very strong, nearly ninety nine percent of me is strong and fortified all around. But I am sure there is a crack, somewhere behind me, in my make-up, where the damage will get in and destroy me.
Elliott Erwitt
[Photographer, b. 1928, Paris, France, lives in New York.]
Little is more irritating to me than photographers pontificating about photography or talking about their pictures in public, unless these photographers have just come back from China or the moon, or have something very particular to say, or a great new technique and approach to talk about, or are interesting and intelligent personalities. They should stick to talking through their pictures.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
[Photographer and painter, b. 1908, Chanteloup, France, d. 2004, Paris.]
They opened fire on you with bullets, but just think of your camera as a flamethrower and a lot more effective.
(On South African police firing on photojournalists during Apartheid.)
