Andreas Feininger Quotes

• A technically perfect photograph can be the world's most boring picture.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Perfect, World

  Andreas Feininger (1974). “The Perfect Photograph”

  55 Copy quote

• As an amateur you have an advantage over photographers - you can do as you wish... This should make amateurs the happiest of photographers.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Wish, Photographer

  28 Copy quote

• Any good photograph is a successful synthesis of technique and art.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Art, Successful

  Andreas Feininger (1982). “Total photography”, Not Avail

  17 Copy quote

• No one can do inspired work without genuine interest in his subject and understanding of its characteristics.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Understanding, Photographer

  Andreas Feininger (1952). “Advanced photography: methods and conclusions”

  9 Copy quote

• Photographers - idiots, of which there are so many - say, "Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great photographs." That's the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It's nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Thinking, Leica

  7 Copy quote

• Before you shoot an irresistible subject, mute all your senses except sight to find out how much is left for the camera to record.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Sight, Cameras

  Andreas Feininger (1982). “Total photography”, Not Avail

  7 Copy quote

• Light is the photographic medium par excellence; it is to the photographer what words are to the writer; color and paint to the painter; wood, metal, stone, or clay to the sculptor.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Light, Color

  Andreas Feininger (1973). “Photographic seeing”, Prentice Hall

  7 Copy quote

• Know - how is worthless unless guided by know - why and know - when.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Photographer, Know How

  Andreas Feininger (1982). “Total photography”, Not Avail

  7 Copy quote

• The difference in 'seeing' between the eye and the lens should make it obvious that a photographer who merely points his camera at an appealing subject and expects to get an appealing picture in return, may be headed for a disappointment.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Disappointment, Eye

  Andreas Feininger (1973). “Photographic seeing”, Prentice Hall

  12 Copy quote

• A photographer who does not know how to translate his feelings and ideas into a graphically satisfactory form is bound to produce ineffective photographs, no matter how idealistic, compassionate, sensitive or imaginative he may be. For in order to be considered good, a photograph must not only say something worthwhile, it must say it well.

  Andreas Feininger

  Order, Ideas, Feelings

  4 Copy quote

• Every successful photograph, except for lucky shots, begins with an idea and a plan. The more precisely a photographer knows what it is he wishes to do, the better the chances are that he will do it.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Successful, Ideas

  8 Copy quote

• What matters is not what you photograph, but why and how you photograph it. Even the most controversial subject, if depicted by a sensitive photographer with honesty, sympathy, and understanding, can be transformed into an emotionally rewarding experience.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Honesty, What Matters

  Andreas Feininger (1982). “Total photography”, Not Avail

  6 Copy quote

• The first impression of a new subject is not necessary the best. Seen from a different angle or under different condition it might look even better. Always study a three - dimensional subject with one eye closed.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Eye, First Impression

  4 Copy quote

• Unless a subject interests me, I'll pass it over and save my film for better things.

  Andreas Feininger

  Film, Interest, Subjects

  Andreas Feininger (1982). “Total photography”, Not Avail

  4 Copy quote

• Realism and superrealism are what I'm after. This world is full of things the eye doesn't see. The camera can see more, and often 10 times better.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Eye, Cameras

  7 Copy quote

• Don't look for "depth" but instead search for subject aspects which prove the presence of depth.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Depth, Looks

  Andreas Feininger (1982). “Total photography”, Not Avail

  4 Copy quote

• Once a photographer is convinced that the camera can lie and that, strictly speaking, the vast majority of photographs are camera lies, inasmuch as they tell only part of a story or tell it in distorted form, half the battle is won. Once he has conceded that photography is not a naturalistic medium of rendition and that striving for naturalism in a photograph is futile, he can turn his attention to using a camera to make more effective pictures.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Lying, Battle

  4 Copy quote

• It's nothing but a matter of seeing, thinking, and interest. That's what makes a good photograph. And then rejecting anything that would be bad for the picture. The wrong light, the wrong background, time and so on. Just don't do it, not matter how beautiful the subject is.

  Andreas Feininger

  Beautiful, Photography, Thinking

  4 Copy quote

• Two factors thus emerge as requisites of success in the field of creative photography. First, the subject must be photogenic. Second, its re-creation in a photograph must be based upon technical knowledge, guided and supported by artsitic inspiration.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Inspiration, Two

  Andreas Feininger (1953). “Feininger on Photography”

  20 Copy quote

• Human vision is untrustworthy, subjective and selective. Camera vision is total and non - objective.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Vision, Cameras

  Andreas Feininger (1982). “Total photography”, Not Avail

  4 Copy quote

• Experience has shown that the more fascinating the subject, the less observant the photographer.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Photographer, Subjects

  Andreas Feininger (1974). “The Perfect Photograph”

  5 Copy quote

• With a short lens I can reveal the hidden things near at hand, with a long lens the hidden things far away. The telephoto lens provides a new visual sensation for people: it widens their horizons. And, conversely, the things under our nose invariably look good when blown up really big.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Hands, Long

  5 Copy quote

• And yet, in a superficial sense, it is true that the camera does not "lie": given a chance, it will faithfully render everything within the field of view of the lens and show it precisely as it is.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Views, Attention

  4 Copy quote

• The camera can push the new medium to its limits - and beyond. It is there - in the "beyond" - that the imaginative photographer will compete with the imaginative painter. Painting must return to the natural world from time to time for renewal of the artistic vision. The key sector of renewal of vision today is the new vistas revealed by science. Here photography, which is not only art but science also, stands on the firmest ground.

  Andreas Feininger

  Photography, Art, Keys

  4 Copy quote

• (1) The more thoroughly a photographer explores his subject with the camera (i.e., the more pictures he makes), the more he sees and the better his chance of getting good results. (2) Even slight changes in subject approach can make significant differences in the effect of the picture.

  Andreas Feininger

  Differences, Cameras, Chance

  7 Copy quote

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