--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I'm ready to make a photograph, I…" description: "\"When I'm ready to make a photograph, I think I quite obviously see in my minds eye something that is not literally there in the true meaning of the wor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/ansel-adams-2687_built_when-i-m-ready-to-make-a-photograph-i-th_2988546.jpg" --- # When I'm ready to make a photograph, I think I quite… ![“When I'm ready to make a photograph, I think I quite obviously see in my minds eye something that is not literally there in the true meaning of the word. I'm interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just extracted from without.” quote by Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/ansel-adams-2687_built_when-i-m-ready-to-make-a-photograph-i-th_2988546.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/ansel-adams-2687_built_when-i-m-ready-to-make-a-photograph-i-th_2988546.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/ansel-adams-2687_built_when-i-m-ready-to-make-a-photograph-i-th_2988546.jpg) > “When I'm ready to make a photograph, I think I quite obviously see in my minds eye something that is not literally there in the true meaning of the word. I'm interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just extracted from without.” [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A photographer envisions an inner truth beyond the literal scene, creating images from internal imagination rather than mere external capture. **In simple terms:** Seeing beyond the surface to capture inner meaning. Key Takeaway Trust your inner vision when creating. Themes creativity vision art inner truth Mood inspired contemplative Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - portrait work - landscape composition - conceptual art - personal projects Key Concepts photography imagination subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance inner vision with factual representation? - What techniques help translate mental images to film? A Different Perspective May be too subjective for documentary accuracy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Interested Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interested-built-3282462/) [Make Photograph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-photograph-357565/) [Photograph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photograph/) [Photograph Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photograph-think-380960/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Ready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ready/) [Word Interested](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-interested-4683899/) ## Related quotes > [I’m interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just extracted from without.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/i-m-interested-in-something-which-is-built-up-from-within-rather-than/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [Everything I choose to photograph, I think is beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juergen-teller/everything-i-choose-to-photograph-i-think-is-beautiful/) [Juergen Teller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juergen-teller/) > [You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/you-don-t-make-a-photograph-just-with-a-camera-you-bring-to-the-act/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [I can't verbalize the internal meaning of pictures whatsoever. Some of my friends can at very mystical levels, but I prefer to say that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/i-can-t-verbalize-the-internal-meaning-of-pictures-whatsoever-some-of/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [If you have enough craft, you've done your homework and you're practiced. You can then make the photograph you desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/if-you-have-enough-craft-you-ve-done-your-homework-and-you-re/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [You don't make a photograph just with a camera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/you-don-t-make-a-photograph-just-with-a-camera/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [Does getting closer to the subject make the photograph more intimate? I'm sure it takes more than that. What comes next? The face, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-barney/does-getting-closer-to-the-subject-make-the-photograph-more-intimate/) [Tina Barney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-barney/) > [I have always done the opposite of what I was trained to do... Having little technical background, I became a photographer. Adopting a machine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/i-have-always-done-the-opposite-of-what-i-was-trained-to-do-having/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [If you think you're going to create an unposed photograph, think again. There is no such thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-morris/if-you-think-you-re-going-to-create-an-unposed-photograph-think-again/) [Errol Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-morris/) > [I always felt that when I was photographing, I had a psychic need to see this, to photograph this. And I think if somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-clark/i-always-felt-that-when-i-was-photographing-i-had-a-psychic-need-to/) [Larry Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-clark/) > [“I remembered a time we were going through magazines. There was this one model who looked icy to the touch, in total control. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-remembered-a-time-we-were-going-through-magazines-there-was-this/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [I'm very moved by the fact that people are drawn into the pictures and that they do bring their own history and their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-crewdson/i-m-very-moved-by-the-fact-that-people-are-drawn-into-the-pictures/) [Gregory Crewdson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-crewdson/) > [If you look at a photograph, and you think, 'My isn't that a beautiful photograph,' and you go on to the next one, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/if-you-look-at-a-photograph-and-you-think-my-isn-t-that-a-beautiful/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [ It's like a magic well. You think you know everything about \[a\] photograph, you think you've gotten everything out of it, and all of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-close/it-s-like-a-magic-well-you-think-you-know-everything-about-a/) [Chuck Close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-close/) > [When I photograph, I do not think much. If you looked at my contacts you would ask yourself: "What is this guy doing?" But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-koudelka/when-i-photograph-i-do-not-think-much-if-you-looked-at-my-contacts/) [Josef Koudelka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-koudelka/) ## More by Ansel Adams > [I know the importance of highly trained awareness of the “moment” and the immediate and intuitive response of the photographer. It should be obvious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/i-know-the-importance-of-highly-trained-awareness-of-the-moment-and/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [It is easy to take a photograph, but it is harder to make a masterpiece in photography than in any other art medium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/it-is-easy-to-take-a-photograph-but-it-is-harder-to-make-a/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [Black and white photography is truly quite a 'departure from reality', and the transition from one aspect of visual magic to another was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/black-and-white-photography-is-truly-quite-a-departure-from-reality/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [Wilderness is rapidly becoming one of those aspects of the American dream which is more of the past than of the present. Wilderness is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/wilderness-is-rapidly-becoming-one-of-those-aspects-of-the-american/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/the-single-most-important-component-of-a-camera-is-the-twelve-inches/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [We make images to "honor what is greater and more interesting than we are."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/we-make-images-to-honor-what-is-greater-and-more-interesting-than-we/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [Photographers and artists contribute a lot to the world and have a right to exist in relative security and comfort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/photographers-and-artists-contribute-a-lot-to-the-world-and-have-a/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [There are worlds of experience beyond the world of the aggressive man, beyond history, and beyond science. The moods and qualities of nature and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/there-are-worlds-of-experience-beyond-the-world-of-the-aggressive-man/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [I have often thought that if photography were difficult in the true sense of the term-meaning that the creation of a simple photograph would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/i-have-often-thought-that-if-photography-were-difficult-in-the-true/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/yosemite-valley-to-me-is-always-a-sunrise-a-glitter-of-green-and/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [To visualize an image (in whole or in part) is to see clearly in the mind prior to exposure, a continuous projection from composing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/to-visualize-an-image-in-whole-or-in-part-is-to-see-clearly-in-the/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [To the vast majority of people a photograph is an image of something within their direct experience: a more-or-less factual reality. It is difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/to-the-vast-majority-of-people-a-photograph-is-an-image-of-something/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [Photograph not only what you see but also what you feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/photograph-not-only-what-you-see-but-also-what-you-feel/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [“A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense and is thereby a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/a-great-photograph-is-a-full-expression-of-what-one-feels-about-what/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/to-photograph-truthfully-and-effectively-is-to-see-beneath-the/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) [Explore all 154 Ansel Adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) ## More Built quotes > [It's really fun and challenging to build things that have never been built before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mason/it-s-really-fun-and-challenging-to-build-things-that-have-never-been/) [Hilary Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mason/) > [Astronomers have built telescopes which can show myriads of stars unseen before; but when a man looks through a tear in his own eye,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/astronomers-have-built-telescopes-which-can-show-myriads-of-stars/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [So I concentrated on the rhythmic side of things, and therefore left a lot of holes. I didn't want to use big pad chords…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/midge-ure/so-i-concentrated-on-the-rhythmic-side-of-things-and-therefore-left-a/) [Midge Ure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/midge-ure/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [Most startups are not just built for the person who is using them. When you do that, every now and then you get really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmett-shear/most-startups-are-not-just-built-for-the-person-who-is-using-them/) [Emmett Shear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmett-shear/) > [Call me the rap assassinator / rhymes rugged and built like Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raekwon/call-me-the-rap-assassinator-rhymes-rugged-and-built-like/) [Raekwon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raekwon/) > [Do we make ourselves into what we become or is it built into our genes, into the fate spun for us by whatever shapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-bruchac/do-we-make-ourselves-into-what-we-become-or-is-it-built-into-our/) [Joseph Bruchac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-bruchac/) > [Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atifete-jahjaga/democracy-must-be-built-through-open-societies-that-share-information/) [Atifete Jahjaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atifete-jahjaga/) > [The dark ages still reign over all humanity, and the depth and persistence of this domination are only now becoming clear. This Dark Ages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-dark-ages-still-reign-over-all-humanity-and-the-depth-and/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [God and I have built an immense fire together. We keep each other happy and warm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hafez/god-and-i-have-built-an-immense-fire-together-we-keep-each-other/) [Hafez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hafez/) > [When we built Roomba, we explicitly designed it to not have a face. We didn't want to think it was cute; we wanted people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-angle/when-we-built-roomba-we-explicitly-designed-it-to-not-have-a-face-we/) [Colin Angle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-angle/) > [Winning a competition in architecture is a ticket to oblivion. It's just an idea. Ninety-nine per cent never get built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-libeskind/winning-a-competition-in-architecture-is-a-ticket-to-oblivion-it-s/) [Daniel Libeskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-libeskind/) > [Good churches are not built by bad men; at least, there must be probity and enthusiasm somewhere in the society. 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I could have played every RPG video game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/imagine-what-i-could-have-done-in-ten-years-i-could-have-learned-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 3,164 Built quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I'm ready to make a photograph, I think I quite obviously see in my minds eye something that is not literally there in the true meaning of the word. 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