Quotes by Ansel Adams

“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.”

“Our lives at times seem a study in contrast... love & hate, birth & death, right & wrong... everything seen in absolutes of black & white. Too often we are not aware that it is the shades of grey that add depth & meaning to the starkness of those extremes.”

In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.

Sometimes I arrive just when Gods ready to have somone click the shutter.

No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.

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.

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

You dont 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.

You dont take a photograph, you make it.

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

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.

A photograph is usually looked at- seldom looked into.

Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.

It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.

I have often had a retrospective vision where everything in my past life seems to fall with significance into logical sequence.

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

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

There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.

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

The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it!