Photojournalism Quotes

“A documentary photograph is not a factual photograph.”

“I've never regretted taking that photograph. It's one of the only photographs that shows someone dying that day.”

“Sometimes I feel I'm a bit like a moth, irresistibly drawn to the flame of history.”

“Utter truth is essential... and to get that truth may take a lot of searching and long hours.”

“They were untouchable, and I had to touch them with my camera.”

“I am a witness to history.”

“You have to take the picture. You're there. That's your job. You have to take the picture.”

“I didn't take the picture. The camera was on a motor drive and I just held the button down, and the camera did the work.”

“To be a press photographer you need to be a bit of a detective, a bit of a diplomat, a bit of a sprinter and a lot of a bastard.”

“Picture Post was an education for me. We were encouraged to use our cameras to comment on the human condition.”

“You had to be quick, you had to see your picture, and you had to have the technique to get it.”

“I had to get my camera to register the things that were more important than how poor they were - their pride, their strength, their spirit.”

“Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our senses into awareness.”

“I am always torn between the attitude of the conscientious journalist who is a recorder and interpreter of the facts and the attitude of the creative artist who often is tempted to manipulate those facts to make a more telling statement.”

“When you find yourself beginning to feel a bond between yourself and the people you photograph… it is then that you are beginning to know them.”