Quotessence
Home / Authors / Bill Brandt Books
Bill Brandt

Bill Brandt Books

Photographer

Related Quotes

“The vital elements are often momentary, change-sent things ... a gleam of light on water, a trail of smoke from a passing train, a cat crossing the threshold. Sometimes they are a matter of luck, sometimes of patience, waiting for an effect to be repeated that you have seen. It is usually some incidental detail that heightens the effect of a picture, stressing a pattern, deepening the sense of atmosphere.”

SometimesMatterLightWaitingWaterEffectsElementsCatStressLuckTrainPatternsDetailsPassingPassingsSmokeAtmosphereTrailsCrossingsThresholdMomentaryGleam
Author:Bill Brandt
Create image

“I am not very interested in extraordinary angles. They can be effective on certain occasions, but I do not feel the necessity for them in my own work. Indeed, I feel the simplest approach can often be most effective. A subject placed squarely in the center of the frame, if attention is not distracted from it by fussy surroundings, has a simple dignity which makes it all the more impressive.”

IfsFeelsCertainMy OwnSimpleAttentionSubjectsApproachPhotographyDignityExtraordinaryPhotographerOccasionsAngleSimplestSurroundingsImpressiveDistractedOften IsFussy
Book:Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography
Create image

“By temperament I am not unduly excitable and certainly not trigger-happy. I think twice before I shoot and very often do not shoot at all. By professional standards I do not waste a lot of film; but by the standards of many of my colleagues I probably miss quite a few of my opportunities. Still, the things I am after are not in a hurry as a rule.”

ThinkingStillsFilmOpportunityMissingWastePhotographyStandardsPhotographerColleaguesTemperamentTriggersThink Twice
Book:Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography
Create image

“It is essential for the photographer to know the effect of his lenses. The lens is his eye, and it makes or ruins his pictures. A feeling for composition is a great asset. I think it is very much a matter of instinct. It can perhaps be developed, but I doubt if it can be learned. To achieve his best work, the young photographer must discover what really excites him visually. He must discover his own world.”

IfsThinkingKnowsWorldMatterFeelingsEyeYoungDoubtAchieveEffectsEssentialsPhotographyInstinctPhotographerRuinsHis EyesAssetsCompositionLensesBest Work
Book:Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography
Create image

“It is part of the photographer's job to see more intensely than most people do. He must have and keep in him something of the receptiveness of a child who looks at the world for the first time or of the traveler who enters a strange country We are most of us too busy, too worried, too intent on proving ourselves right, too obsessed with ideas to stand and stare Very rarely are we able to free our minds of thoughts and emotions and just see for the simple pleasure of seeing. And so long as we fail to do this, so long will the essence of things be hidden from us.”

PeopleWorldMindFirstsLooksChildrenLongIdeasCountryAbleJobsSimplePleasureEmotionFailingSeeingStrangeProveFirst TimeEssencePhotographerBusyWorriedStaringObsessedTravelerToo BusySimple PleasuresThoughts And Emotions
Author:Bill Brandt
Create image