Roger Ballen
[Photographer, b. 1950, New York, lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.]

 It has to start with myself. I just can’t go out and say, I’m going to help humanity and take greater pictures. That usually doesn’t work. 

Bill Jay
[Photographer, writer, and curator, b. 1940, Maidenhead, England, d. 2009, Samara, Costa Rica.]

 I start a lot of photo projects but never seem to… 

Garry Winogrand
[Photographer, b. 1928, New York, d. 1984, Tijuana, Mexico.]

 You know, you’ve heard photographers talk about how they want to know the place better and so on—they’re really talking about their own comfort. Let me put it this way—I have never seen a photograph from which I could tell how long the photographer was there, how well he knew it. 

Robert Doisneau
[Photographer, b. 1912, Gentilly, Val-de-Marne, France, d. 1994, Montrouge, France.]

 I find that when I am witnessing an extremely tender and intimate sight—in order to excuse myself for having been witness and voyeur to such a tender, deeply moving moment—I take refuge. The refuge I take has been in humor. I seek humor so that the moment will not be such a solemn declaration. Humor is a way to hide yourself a little bit. 

Lewis Baltz
[Photographer, b. 1945, Newport Beach, California, d. 2014, Paris.]

 I think being a photographer is a little like being a whore: if you’re really really good at it, nobody will call you that. 

Pope John XIII
[Religious leader, b. 1881, Sotto il Monte, Italy, d. 1963, Rome.]

 God knew seventy-seven years ago that someday I would be Pope. Why couldn’t he have made me a little more photogenic? (To photographer Yousef Karsh) 

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)
[Writer, b. 1903, Motihari, Bengal, India, d. 1950, London.]

 In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning. 

James Agee
[Writer, b. 1909, Knoxville, Tennessee, d. 1955, New York.]

 JAMES AGEE: a spy, traveling as a journalist.
WALKER EVANS: a counter-spy, traveling as a photographer.
(Self-descriptions in the book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men)  
quotes 17-24 of 42
first page previous page page 3 of 6 next page last page
display quotes