Ansel Adams: Photograph

“To the complaint, 'There are no people in these photographs,' I respond, There are always two people: the photographer and the viewer.”

“A photograph is usually looked at- seldom looked into.”

“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment.”

“You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”

“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.”

“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.”

“Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.”

“A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.”

“There are two people in every photograph: the photographer and the viewer”

“The herculean task of a photographer is to capture a momentary frame as beautiful in reality, as it would be in a dream.”

“If what I see in my mind excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph.”

“I have often thought that if photography were difficult in the true sense of the term — meaning that the creation of a simple photograph would entail as much time and effort as the production of a good watercolor or etching — there would be a vast improvement in total output. The sheer ease with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster.”