--- title: "7 Photographs Quotes By Henri Cartier-Bresson" description: "7 Photographs quotes by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Plus more from Henri Cartier-Bresson and more Photographs sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_photograph_nobody-takes-photographs-photographs-tak_812712.jpg" --- > [Nobody takes photographs, photographs take you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/nobody-takes-photographs-photographs-take-you/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_photograph_nobody-takes-photographs-photographs-tak_812712.jpg) > [Your fitsy 10,000 photographs are your worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/your-fitsy-10-000-photographs-are-your-worst/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cf/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_inspirational_your-fitsy-10-000-photographs-are-your-w_1706236.jpg) > [“To take photographs is to hold one's breath when all faculties converge in the face of fleeing reality. It is at that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/to-take-photographs-is-to-hold-one-s-breath-when-all-faculties/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_breath_to-take-photographs-is-to-hold-one-s-bre_2280972.jpg) > [Some photographs are like a Chekhov short story or a Maupassant story. They're quick things and there's a whole world in them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/some-photographs-are-like-a-chekhov-short-story-or-a-maupassant-story/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3a/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_chekhov_some-photographs-are-like-a-chekhov-shor_2737694.jpg) > [Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/your-first-10-000-photographs-are-your-worst/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d61/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_art_your-first-10-000-photographs-are-your-w_2848556.jpg) > [As far as I am concerned, taking photographs is a means of understanding which cannot be separated from other means of visual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/as-far-as-i-am-concerned-taking-photographs-is-a-means-of/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_concerned_as-far-as-i-am-concerned-taking-photogra_3061697.jpg) > [To take photographs means to recognize - simultaneously and within a fraction of a second - both the fact itself and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/to-take-photographs-means-to-recognize-simultaneously-and-within-a/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b3/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_axes_to-take-photographs-means-to-recognize-s_3099023.jpg) ## Other authors on Photographs - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-susan-sontag-88140.jpg) Susan Sontag 15 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographs/susan-sontag/) - [Mehmet Murat ildan 10 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographs/mehmet-murat-ildan/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-garry-winogrand-36897.jpg) Garry Winogrand 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographs/garry-winogrand/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-martin-parr-64774.jpg) Martin Parr 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographs/martin-parr/) - [Alison Jackson 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographs/alison-jackson/) ## 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/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographs/henri-cartier-bresson/#itemlist", "name": "7 Photographs Quotes By Henri Cartier-Bresson", "numberOfItems": 7, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nobody takes photographs, photographs take you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henri Cartier-Bresson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/nobody-takes-photographs-photographs-take-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_photograph_nobody-takes-photographs-photographs-tak_812712.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_photograph_nobody-takes-photographs-photographs-tak_812712.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_photograph_nobody-takes-photographs-photographs-tak_812712.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nobody takes photographs, photographs take you.” — Henri Cartier-Bresson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Your fitsy 10,000 photographs are your worst.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henri Cartier-Bresson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/your-fitsy-10-000-photographs-are-your-worst/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cf/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_inspirational_your-fitsy-10-000-photographs-are-your-w_1706236.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cf/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_inspirational_your-fitsy-10-000-photographs-are-your-w_1706236.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cf/henri-cartier-bresson-3438_inspirational_your-fitsy-10-000-photographs-are-your-w_1706236.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Your fitsy 10,000 photographs are your worst.” — Henri Cartier-Bresson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To take photographs is to hold one's breath when all faculties converge in the face of fleeing reality. 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