There are a lot of ways to be expressive in life, but I wasn't good at some of them. Music, for instance. I was a distinct failure with the cello. Eventually, my parents sold the cello and bought a vacuum… — 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
