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Bill Brandt

Bill Brandt Quotes

Photographer

Bill Brandt, born on May 3, 1904 in Hamburg, Germany, and died on December 20, 1983 in London, England, was a renowned German-born British photographer. Known for his unique photographic style and profound understanding of the art of photography, his work spans a variety of genres including portraiture, landscape, and documentary.

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All Photographer Photography Subjects Effects Matter Should Firsts Photograph Sports World Children First Time Ifs Knows Looks Seeing Stills Achieve Atmosphere Believe

Famous Bill Brandt Quotes

“Photographers should follow their own judgment, and not the fads and dictates of others. Photography is still a very new medium and everything is allowed and everything should be tried and dared... Photography has no rules. It is not a sport. It is the result which counts, no matter how it was achieved.”

Should Stills Matter Sports Results Judgment Photography Photographer Mediums Fads

Author:Bill Brandt

“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 the child who looks at the world for the first time or of the traveler who enters a strange country.”

People World Firsts Looks Children Country Jobs Strange Photography First Time Photographer Traveler

Book:Camera in London

Source: Camera in London

“I consider it essential that the photographer should do his own printing and enlarging. The final effect of the finished print depends so much on these operations.”

Should Effects Depends Essentials Photography Finals Photographer Finished Operations Print Printing Be Considerate

Book:Camera in London

Source: Camera in London

“Photography has no rules, it is not a sport. It is the result which counts, no matter how it is achieved.”

Matter Sports Results Photography

Author:Bill Brandt

“Photography is still a very new medium and everything must be tried and dare.”

Stills Photography Dare Mediums

Author:Bill Brandt

“I am not interested in rules or conventions. Photography is not a sport.”

Sports Photography Conventions Not Interested

Author:Bill Brandt

“But I did not always know just what it was I wanted to photograph. I believe it is important for a photographer to discover this, for unless he finds what it is that excites him, what it is that calls forth at once an emotional response, he is unlikely to achieve his best work.”

Knows Believe Important Wanted I Believe Achieve Emotional Photography Response Photographer Photograph Unlikely Best Work Emotional Response

Book:Camera in London

Source: Camera in London

“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.”

Source: Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography

“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.”

Thinking Stills Film Opportunity Missing Waste Photography Standards Photographer Colleagues Temperament Triggers Think Twice

Book:Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography

Source: Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography

“If there is any method in the way I take pictures, I believe it lies in this: See the subject first. Do not try to force it to be a picture of this, that or the other thing. Stand apart from it. Then something will happen. The subject will reveal itself.”

Ifs Way Trying Firsts Believe Happens Lying Force I Believe Subjects Photography Method Photographer

Book:Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography

Source: Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography

“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.”

Source: Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography

“Photography is not a sport. It has no rules. Everything must be dared and tried!”

Sports Photography

Author:Bill Brandt

“No amount of toying with shades of print or with printing papers will transform a commonplace photograph into anything other than a commonplace photograph.”

Amount Paper Photography Photographer Photograph Print Shade Papers Commonplace Printing

Book:Camera in London

Source: Camera in London

“A photographer must be prepared to catch and hold on to those elements which give distinction to the subject or lend it atmosphere.”

Giving Subjects Elements Photography Prepared Photographer Atmosphere Distinction Be Prepared

Book:Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography

Source: Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography

“And only the photographer himself knows the effect he wants. He should know by instinct, grounded in experience, what subjects are enhanced by hard or soft, light or dark treatment.”

Knows Want Should Hard Light Dark Subjects Effects Photography Instinct Photographer Treatment Grounded

Book:Camera in London

Source: Camera in London

“Sometimes they are a matter of luck; the photographer could not expect or hope for them. Sometimes they are a matter of patience, waiting for an effect to be repeated that he has seen and lost or for one that he anticipates.”

Sometimes Matter Lost Waiting Effects Photography Patience Luck Photographer Anticipate

Book:Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography

Source: Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & Bibliography

About the Author

Born: May 3, 1904
Died: December 20, 1983
Known for: Photographer
Quotes: 27

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Books & Sources

Bill Brandt: Selected Texts & BibliographyRelated source material

Camera in LondonRelated source material

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