Quotessence
Home / Authors / Elliott Erwitt
Elliott Erwitt

Elliott Erwitt Quotes

Photographer

Filter quotes by topic

AllPhotographyPhotographerIfsPhotographCamerasPeopleThinkingWantWayLittlesMindNoticingNoticing ThingsObservationQualitySimpleStreet PhotographyTaking PicturesCareGreat Photography

Famous Elliott Erwitt Quotes

“Making pictures is a very simple act. There is no great secret in photography...schools are a bunch of crap. You just need practice and application of what you've learned. My absolute conviction is that if you are working reasonably well the only important thing is to keep shooting...it doesn't matter whether you are making money or not. Keep working, because as you go through the process of working things begin to happen.”

IfsNeedsWellsImportantMatterHappensSchoolProcessSimpleSecretPracticePhotographyAbsolutesImportant ThingsPhotographerConvictionBunchMaking MoneyShootingApplicationCrapWorking Things
Author:Elliott Erwitt
Create image

“Quality doesn't mean deep blacks and whatever tonal range. That's not quality, that's a kind of quality. The pictures of Robert Frank might strike someone as being sloppy-the tone range isn't right and things like that-but they're far superior to the pictures of Ansel Adams with regard to quality, because the quality of Ansel Adams, if I may say so, is essentially the quality of a postcard. But the quality of Robert Frank is a quality that has something to do with what he's doing, what his mind is. It's not balancing out the sky to the sand and so forth. It's got to do with intention.”

IfsMindKindMayMeanMightQualitySkyPhotographyRegardIntentionStrikesSuperiorsRangeToneSandFrankSloppyPostcards
Author:Elliott Erwitt
Create image

“The advice I would give to any photographer - young, old or in-between - is to explore anything visual because this is, after all, how you express your artistry. Look at paintings, movies, drawings, sculptures - look at anything visual and try to integrate that into your visual sense. After that, go out and take pictures and keep on taking pictures!”

GivingTryingLooksYoungAdvicePaintingPhotographyPhotographerDrawingVisualsSculptureIntegratingArtistryTaking Pictures
Author:Elliott Erwitt
Create image

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

WayInspirationalLittlesArtFoundInspiringInterestingFindingsPhotographyOrdinaryPhotographerPhotographObservationCandidPhotography By PhotographersInspirational PhotographySomething InterestingGreat PhotographyInspiring PhotographyInteresting PlacesStreet PhotographyArt PhotographyFilm PhotographyPhotography And FilmColor PhotographyPhotography LoveDocumentary Photography
Author:Elliott Erwitt
Create image

“I'm almost violent about that stuff - electronic manipulation of pictures. I think it's an abomination. I reject it all. I mean, it's OK for selling corn flakes or automobiles or for taking pimples out of Elizabeth Taylor's face, but it undermines the thing that photography is about, which is about observation and not about manipulation of images.”

ThinkingMeanFacesStuffPhotographyViolentSellingObservationRejectsManipulationCornAutomobileAbominationFlakesPimplesCorn Flakes
Author:Elliott Erwitt
Create image

“I don't think you can create luck. You're either lucky or you're not. I don't know if it's really luck or if it's just curiosity. I think the main ingredient, or a main ingredient for photography is curiosity. If you're curious enough and if you get up in the morning and go out and take pictures, you're likely to be more lucky than if you just stay at home.”

IfsThinkingKnowsEnoughHomeMorningLuckyPhotographyLuckCuriosityPhotographerGet UpCuriousIngredientsStay At Home
Author:Elliott Erwitt
Create image