Photographs that transcend but do not deny their literal situation appeal to me. — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
A mad, keen photographer needs to get out into the world and work and make mistakes. — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
My best work is often almost unconscious and occurs ahead of my ability to understand it. — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
It's more difficult now, to be a Geographic photographer, than it was when I came along. And it wasn't easy at that… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
My least favorite photographer to have would be myself. Someone who wanted a career at National Geographic. Because it's almost mathematically impossible… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
People say to me, "Who's your favorite kind of photographer?" Or "Who would be your favorite photographer to have in a workshop?"… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
My dad had been an ardent amateur photographer, and he taught me to compose a photograph from the back to the front,… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
I wanted life to be episodic. I wanted to be a magazine photographer and I was willing to do what it took… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
Typically I see it with photographers who go to a place like India or Nepal, and everything's so colorful and exotic and… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
It's a little bit like talking about the life of writing. The life of writing may be about many things, but it… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
My Dad took a workshop from a photographer who worked at the Toledo Blade, a newspaper I delivered. I knew this photographer's… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
I did it once, and National Geographic recruited me. I did it primarily out of curiosity. A lot of legendary photographers had… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
I think that it's workshops, honestly, that have kept me keen about photography, and about my photography. My career as a workshop… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
Above all, it's hard learning to live with vivid mental images of scenes I cared for and failed to photograph. It is… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
I can't speak for other photographers, but the photographers who went forward strongly when the so-called "official" part of their career ended,… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
When assignments were over, photography continued. One of the primary reasons it did was that I wanted and needed to have fresh… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
Yes, there are billions more photographers, and billions more photographs every day, but who's building up a point of view? Who's photographing… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
There are a lot of ways to talk about the life of a photograph. You can talk about the afterlife of a… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
And that desire-the strong desire to take pictures-is important. It borders on a need, based on a habit: the habit of seeing.… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
But there is more to a fine photograph than information. We are also seeking to present an image that arouses the curiosity… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
For spiritual companions I have had the many artists who have relied on nature to help shape their imagination. And their most… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
One of the things that I most believe in is the compose and wait philosophy of photography. It’s a very satisfying, almost… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
You know you are seeing such a photograph if you say to yourself, "I could have taken that picture. I've seen such… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
The neatest part of this book I'm working on - to me - are the pictures that show the process... Because photographers...… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
I started teaching in '76 and I'd been a photographer at the Geographic for six years. But prior to being at the… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
My first priority when taking pictures is to achieve clarity. A good documentary photograph transmits the information of the situation with the… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
...just like some people's instinct to photograph is triggered by vacation... assignments might be that to me and that's why I've built… — Sam Abell Copy Share Image
Photography, alone of the arts, seems perfected to serve the desire humans have for a moment - this very moment - to stay. — Sam Abell Copy Share
I did it once, and National Geographic recruited me. I did it primarily out of curiosity. A lot of legendary photographers had worked on… — Sam Abell Copy Share
I can't speak for other photographers, but the photographers who went forward strongly when the so-called "official" part of their career ended, to me,… — Sam Abell Copy Share
Actually, ambition won't get you that far. You'll shift gears. You'll see something that's shinier. But if you believe... then you're the long-distance runner. — Sam Abell Copy Share
A mad, keen photographer needs to get out into the world and work and make mistakes. — Sam Abell Copy Share
I have this awareness that the more dynamic the situation is, the more on guard I need to be that the dynamic isn't controlling… — Sam Abell Copy Share
What I'm interested in is modern American history. I'm taken with the changes that have occurred in America in my lifetime. — Sam Abell Copy Share
Life rarely presents fully finished photographs. An image evolves, often from a single strand of visual interest - a distant horizon, a moment of… — Sam Abell Copy Share
Photographs that transcend but do not deny their literal situation appeal to me. — Sam Abell Copy Share
I wanted life to be episodic. I wanted to be a magazine photographer and I was willing to do what it took to become… — Sam Abell Copy Share
That statement [ Stephen Ambrose:'You, Sam, have the hardest job, which is, pretend like nothing has happened in the last 200 years.'] woke me… — Sam Abell Copy Share
Even though I teach with 35mm, my method takes people by surprise, because it isn't fast, and it isn't about hardware or software, or… — Sam Abell Copy Share
The class that I teach is called "The Life of a Photograph." It takes up the question, of the billion photographs that were taken… — Sam Abell Copy Share
