---
title: "5 Instant Quotes By Henri Cartier-Bresson"
description: "5 Instant quotes by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Plus more from Henri Cartier-Bresson and more Instant sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b0/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_book_for-me-the-camera-is-a-sketch-book-an-in_866949.jpg"
---

> [For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/for-me-the-camera-is-a-sketch-book-an-instrument-of-intuition-and/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b0/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_book_for-me-the-camera-is-a-sketch-book-an-in_866949.jpg)

> [I suddenly understood that a photograph could fix eternity in an instant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/i-suddenly-understood-that-a-photograph-could-fix-eternity-in-an/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/627/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_eternity_i-suddenly-understood-that-a-photograph_1383685.jpg)

> [All I care about these days is painting — photography has never been more than a way into painting, a sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/all-i-care-about-these-days-is-painting-photography-has-never-been/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_care_all-i-care-about-these-days-is-painting_1416042.jpg)

> [Only a fraction of the camera's possibilities interests me - the marvelous mixture of emotion and geometry, together in a single instant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/only-a-fraction-of-the-camera-s-possibilities-interests-me-the/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cf/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_cameras_only-a-fraction-of-the-camera-s-possibil_1557394.jpg)

> [The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/the-creative-act-lasts-but-a-brief-moment-a-lightning-instant-of-give/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_art_the-creative-act-lasts-but-a-brief-momen_1913803.jpg)

## Other authors on Instant

## More by Henri Cartier-Bresson

> [Inside movement there is one moment in which the elements are in balance. Photography must seize the importance of this moment and hold immobile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/inside-movement-there-is-one-moment-in-which-the-elements-are-in/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [Rene Char wrote somewhere, apropos poetry, that there are those who create and those who discover; they are too completely different worlds. Photograph also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/rene-char-wrote-somewhere-apropos-poetry-that-there-are-those-who/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [Photography is, for me, a spontaneous impulse coming from an ever attentive eye which captures the moment and its eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/photography-is-for-me-a-spontaneous-impulse-coming-from-an-ever/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [The camera is for us a tool, not a pretty mechanical toy ... people think far too much about techniques and not enough about seeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/the-camera-is-for-us-a-tool-not-a-pretty-mechanical-toy-people-think/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [In order to give meaning to the world, one has to feel oneself involved in what he frames. This attitude requires concentration, a discipline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/in-order-to-give-meaning-to-the-world-one-has-to-feel-oneself/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/to-me-photography-is-the-simultaneous-recognition-in-a-fraction-of-a/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [The intensive use of photographs by mass media lays ever fresh responsibilities upon the photographer. We have to acknowledge the existence of a chasm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/the-intensive-use-of-photographs-by-mass-media-lays-ever-fresh/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [Reality offers us such wealth that we must cut some of it out on the spot, simplify. The question is, do we always cut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/reality-offers-us-such-wealth-that-we-must-cut-some-of-it-out-on-the/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [What do you think I'm a professor of? The little finger? (On offers of honorary doctorates.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/what-do-you-think-i-m-a-professor-of-the-little-finger-on-offers-of/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [Why do photographers start giving numbers to their prints? It’s absurd. What do you do when the 20th print has been done? Do you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/why-do-photographers-start-giving-numbers-to-their-prints-it-s-absurd/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [Photography appears to be an easy activity; in fact it is a varied and ambiguous process in which the only common denominator among its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/photography-appears-to-be-an-easy-activity-in-fact-it-is-a-varied-and/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [Give me inspiration over information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/give-me-inspiration-over-information/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [Photography is only intuition, a perpetual interrogation - everything except a stage set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/photography-is-only-intuition-a-perpetual-interrogation-everything/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [The picture is good or not from the moment it was caught in the camera.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/the-picture-is-good-or-not-from-the-moment-it-was-caught-in-the-camera/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

> [I'm not responsible for my photographs. Photography is not documentary, but intuition, a poetic experience. It's drowning yourself, dissolving yourself, and then sniff, sniff,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/i-m-not-responsible-for-my-photographs-photography-is-not-documentary/)

[Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/)

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