61 Ansel Adams Quotes For Life Motivation

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Ansel Adams was a renowned photographer and environmentalist. Some of his famous quotes are about life, nature, black and white photography, and his work.

Ansel Adams is one of the most celebrated photographers of our time. His stunning black-and-white images of nature have captivated audiences for generations. 

Adams said, “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.” 

This quote speaks to Adams’ deep understanding of the technical and emotional elements of creating outstanding photographs. For Adams, it was not enough to simply point his camera at a beautiful scene; he also wanted to convey the emotion and feeling he experienced at that moment. His work continues to inspire photographers and lovers of nature today.

 

Ansel Adams Quotes About Life

  • Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.
  • Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.
  • A photograph is usually looked at – seldom looking into.
  • Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.
  • I don’t know anybody who needs a critic to find out what art is.
  • To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things.
  • I believe photography is a tool to express our positive assessment of the world. A tool to acquire ultimate happiness and belief.
  • I am probably afraid that some spectator will not understand my photography – therefore I proceed to make it really less understandable by writing defensibly about it.
  • We must remember that a photograph can hold just as much as we put into it, and no one has ever approached the full possibilities of the medium.
  • Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.
  • When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.
  • There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.

 

Ansel Adams Quotes Nature

Ansel Adams was a photographer and environmentalist. He was later contracted by the United States Department of the Interior to take photographs of national parks. In 1980, his long-term advocacy won him the Presidential Medal of Freedom and world-wide fame.

  • Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.
  • To the complaint, ‘There are no people in these photographs”, I respond, “There are always two people: the photographer and the viewer.”
  • A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.
  • In a strict sense photography can never be abstract, for the camera is incapable of synthetic integration.
  • A photograph is not an accident – it is a concept. It exists at, or before, the moment of exposure of the negative.
  • I can look at a fine art photograph and sometimes I can hear music.
  • A true photograph need not be explained, nor can be contained in words.
  • A good photograph is knowing where to stand.
  • Bad weather makes for good photography.
  • Photograph not only what you see but also what you feel.
  • In some photographs the essence of light and space dominate; in others, the substance of rock and wood, and the luminous insistence of growing things.
  • In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.
  • No photographer should be without one.
  • Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.
  • I am sure the next step will be the electronic image, and I hope I shall live to see it. I trust that the creative eye will continue to function, whatever technological innovations may develop.
  • There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.
  • No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.
  • Both the grand and the intimate aspects of nature can be revealed in the expressive photograph.
  • Both can stir enduring affirmations and discoveries, and can surely help the spectator in his search for identification with the vast world of natural beauty and wonder surrounding him.
  • Myths and creeds are heroic struggles to comprehend the truth in the world.
  • As the fisherman depends upon the rivers, lakes and seas and the farmer upon the land for his existence, so does mankind in general depend upon the beauty of the world about him for his spiritual and emotional existence.
  • Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.

 

Ansel Adams Quotes About His Work

Ansel Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist. His black-and-white prints are widely recognized for their beauty and finesse, and he is often considered one of the most outstanding photographers. 

Adams’s quotes about life, nature, photography, and his work are highly inspirational and provide great insight into his creative process. 

“Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder that sets my mind singing and my heart dancing.” 

“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” “There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.”

These Ansel Adams quotes show us that he was not only a master of his craft but also had a deep appreciation for the natural world.

  • It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.
  • Let us leave a splendid legacy for our children. Let us turn to them and say, this you inherit: guard it well, for it is far more precious than money. Once destroyed, nature’s beauty cannot be repurchased at any price.
  • I believe the world is incomprehensibly beautiful – an endless prospect of magic and wonder.
  • Life is your art. An open, aware heart is your camera. A oneness with your world is your film. Your bright eyes and easy smile is your museum.
  • It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument.
  • Life is your art. An open, aware heart is your camera. A oneness with your world is your film. Your bright eyes and easy smile is your museum.
  • I am always surprised when I see several cameras, a gaggle on lenses, filters, meters, etc, rattling around in a soft bag with a complement of refuse and dust. Sometimes the professional is the worst offender!
  • The [35mm] camera is for life and for people, the swift and intense moments of life.
  • 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.
  • The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it.
  • You don’t take a photograph, you make it.― Ansel Adams
  • Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to have somone click the shutter .― Ansel Adams
  • A photograph is usually looked at- seldom looked into.― Ansel Adams

 

Motivational Ansel Adams Quotes

  • Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment. ― Ansel Adams
  • There are two people in every photograph: the photographer and the viewer. ― Ansel Adams
  • The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it! ― Ansel Adams
  • There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer. ― Ansel Adams
  • Ask yourself: “Does this subject move me to feel, think and dream – Ansel Adams
  • A photograph is usually looked at – seldom looked into– Ansel Adams
  • You don’t take a photograph, you make it– Ansel Adams
  • I believe there is nothing more disturbing than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept! – Ansel Adams
  • Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop– Ansel Adams
  • The only things in my life that compatibly exists with this grand universe are the creative works of the human spirit– Ansel Adams
  • A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words– Ansel Adams
  • The sheer ease with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster– Ansel Adams
  • Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships – Ansel Adams
  • The negative is the equivalent of the composer’s score, and the print the performance.
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