Photography Quotes by Patti Smith

Robert was concerned with how to make the photograph, and I with how to be the photograph.

— Patti Smith

...my camera is my friend, and I take it everywhere.

— Patti Smith

I love to photograph the tools of one's trade: Duncan Grant's paintbrushes, the typewriter of Herman Hesse, or even my own guitar,…

— Patti Smith

Truthfully, I don't really think of myself as a photographer. I don't have all the disciplines and knowledge of a person who's…

— Patti Smith

One of my great goals when I first started taking photographs or showing them publicly is that people might want one for…

— Patti Smith

If I'm taking a picture of Brancusi's grave, I know that there's something of him, of his mortal remains, beneath my feet,…

— Patti Smith

“He took twelve pictures that day. Within a few days he showed me the contact sheet. "This one has the magic," he…

— Patti Smith

My introduction to photography and a lot of how I developed aesthetically was through '50s and early-'60s fashion magazines like Harper's Bazaar…

— Patti Smith

I never thought of being a performer, never thought of being a singer, never thought of being a photographer. It's just the…

— Patti Smith

With the death of Robert Mapplethorpe, I had lost my main collaborator in taking photographs. So I didn't know who to work…

— Patti Smith

I hadn't performed or been in the public eye for about 16 years. When my husband passed away, I was obliged to…

— Patti Smith

Light inspires me. I'm drawn to architecture, often graves, statues, trees - things usually that are quite still. I've been taking pictures…

— Patti Smith

We were walking toward the fountain, the epicenter of activity, when an older couple stopped and openly observed us. Robert enjoyed being…

— Patti Smith

After writing all day I go for a walk and see a piece of architecture i want to photograph and i have…

— Patti Smith

It got to the point where I started hiding because I didn't want to be photographed. (On living with Robert Mapplethorpe)

— Patti Smith

There are so many great 19th-century photographers, and it's really my favorite period, but the amateurs did such beautiful work.

— Patti Smith

Polaroid by its nature makes you frugal. You walk around with maybe two packs of film in your pocket. You have 20…

— Patti Smith

When I'm on my own with my camera, taking these pictures, it feels as if I am in a room of my…

— Patti Smith