Elliott Erwitt

“The best things happen when you're not trying to do anything.”

“Nothing happens when you sit at home. I always make it a point to carry a camera with me at all times… I just shoot at what interests me at that moment.”

“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.”

“The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.”

“It's about reacting to what you see, hopefully without preconception. You can find pictures anywhere. It's simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them.”

“Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.”

“The work I care about is the work I do for myself.”

“You just have to care about what’s around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy.”

“Making people laugh is one of the highest achievements you can have.”

“I'm not a serious photographer. There is a lot of humor in my work.”

“It's a question of being there. And of being ready.”

“I'm an amateur and I intend to remain one.”

“All the technique in the world doesn't compensate for the inability to notice.”

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”