Photography Quotes by John Loengard

The fact is that the camera is literal if anything, which gives it something in common with a thermometer... Often the tension that exists…

— John Loengard

In my head I think, There is a beautiful picture here and by God, short of murder, I'm going to get it. So shut…

— John Loengard

In a painting no one complains that the subject is posed, but everybody complains about what looks posed in a photograph. Except, I've found…

— John Loengard

When I teach a class I often give the assignment: Photograph someone you love. I ask people to do this so they have a…

— John Loengard

Working alone on stories, I began to feel the anonymity of motels on interstate highways reached by jet planes and rental cars. It was…

— John Loengard

Usually I think if there is something imperfect in a photograph it makes the picture more real. Photographs that are slick, smooth, and imperfect…

— John Loengard

A Ming vase can be well-designed and well-made and is beautiful for that reason alone. I don't think this can be true for photography.…

— John Loengard

Teachers don't work in the summer, and photographers don't shoot in in the middle of the day.

— John Loengard

If you want something to look interesting, don’t light all of it.

— John Loengard

When I go to photograph somebody, they say, "What do you want me to do?" Those are the most frightening words in the English…

— John Loengard

Perishability in a photograph is important in a picture. If a photograph looks perishable we say, "Gee, I'm glad I have that moment."

— John Loengard

Often the tension that exists between the pictorial content of a photograph and its record of reality is the picture's true beauty.

— John Loengard

There are two kinds of photographs: mine and other people's. I never think of what I might do myself when I look at someone…

— John Loengard

I was photographing the photographer Brassaï. He had very prominent eyes, like a frog's. As I focused my lens, he brought his hand up…

— John Loengard