--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Photography is the art of not pushing the…" description: "\"Photography is the art of not pushing the button.\" — Frank Horvat" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/083/frank-horvat-60925_art_photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-th_2356260.jpg" --- # Photography is the art of not pushing the button. ![“Photography is the art of not pushing the button.” quote by Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/083/frank-horvat-60925_art_photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-th_2356260.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/083/frank-horvat-60925_art_photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-th_2356260.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/083/frank-horvat-60925_art_photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-th_2356260.jpg) > “Photography is the art of not pushing the button.” [Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True photography captures moments without relying on the camera's button, emphasizing intuition and presence. **In simple terms:** Great photos come from being present, not just pressing a button. Key Takeaway Focus on seeing, not just shooting. Themes creativity mindfulness observation Mood contemplative inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - street photography - portrait sessions - travel documentation - spontaneous events Key Concepts visual storytelling presence Questions to Reflect On - How can you train your eye to notice before you shoot? - What moments do you miss when you wait for the perfect button press? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on equipment can hinder authentic expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [I usually don't mind movies that people think go overboard because that's what art is all about. Art is about pushing us and making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-cube/i-usually-don-t-mind-movies-that-people-think-go-overboard-because/) [Ice Cube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-cube/) > [Artists are free to push boundaries to make art. But when pushing boundaries is their only aim, the result is usually bad art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-lynch/artists-are-free-to-push-boundaries-to-make-art-but-when-pushing/) [Jane Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-lynch/) > [For half a century photography has been the "art form" of the untalented. Obviously some pictures are more satisfactory than others, but where is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/for-half-a-century-photography-has-been-the-art-form-of-the/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [ The camera's dumb, it don't \[sic\] care who's pushing the button. It doesn't know. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-winogrand/the-camera-s-dumb-it-don-t-sic-care-who-s-pushing-the-button-it-doesn/) [Garry Winogrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-winogrand/) > [Just pushing a button is taking a photo. Thinking, lighting, and lots of other things~that's making a photo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-doubilet/just-pushing-a-button-is-taking-a-photo-thinking-lighting-and-lots-of/) [David Doubilet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-doubilet/) > [“Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/silence-is-pushing-the-off-button-shutting-it-down-all-of-it/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Missing him so much that a text message seems so simple to do, yet pushing that one button is impossible!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/missing-him-so-much-that-a-text-message-seems-so-simple-to-do-yet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“That's true," the male officer said. "Stew Mitchum is as cute as a button." I tried to think of buttons I'd seen that liked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemony-snicket/that-s-true-the-male-officer-said-stew-mitchum-is-as-cute-as-a-button/) [Lemony Snicket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemony-snicket/) > [It's always funny to find what people's button is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-rogen/it-s-always-funny-to-find-what-people-s-button-is/) [Seth Rogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-rogen/) > [What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-must-it-be-like-i-wonder-to-live-in-a-world-where-food-appears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Deeper fulfilment is rather different from the happiness of seeing a good film or watching your team win at football, and it doesn't come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-mulgan/deeper-fulfilment-is-rather-different-from-the-happiness-of-seeing-a/) [Geoff Mulgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-mulgan/) > [The fact that you can remember yesterday but not tomorrow is because of entropy. The fact that you're always born young and then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-m-carroll/the-fact-that-you-can-remember-yesterday-but-not-tomorrow-is-because/) [Sean M. Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-m-carroll/) > [Every morning is a battle between the superego and the id, and I am a mere foot soldier with mud and a snooze button…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/every-morning-is-a-battle-between-the-superego-and-the-id-and-i-am-a/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Jenson Button is in the top ten, in eleventh position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-walker/jenson-button-is-in-the-top-ten-in-eleventh-position/) [Murray Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-walker/) > [With women, the best part is the discovery. There's nothing like the first time, nothing. You don't know what life is until you undress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/with-women-the-best-part-is-the-discovery-there-s-nothing-like-the/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) ## More by Frank Horvat > [...photography is made essentially of time. I often think that what we show is a point in time, more than a window onto space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/photography-is-made-essentially-of-time-i-often-think-that-what-we/) [Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) > [There's this idea that photography is a kind of testimony and therefore we're forbidden to tell lies with it. I think that's nonsense. Photography…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/there-s-this-idea-that-photography-is-a-kind-of-testimony-and/) [Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) > [To me, photography is not just a visual art, but something closer to poetry - or at least to some poetry, such as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/to-me-photography-is-not-just-a-visual-art-but-something-closer-to/) [Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) > [By trying many different approaches, you may slowly reach the point where you say more about yourself than about the objects or the landscapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/by-trying-many-different-approaches-you-may-slowly-reach-the-point/) [Frank Horvat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) [Explore all 5 Frank Horvat quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Photography is the art of not pushing the button.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frank Horvat" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-the-button/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-the-button/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/083/frank-horvat-60925_art_photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-th_2356260.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/083/frank-horvat-60925_art_photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-th_2356260.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/083/frank-horvat-60925_art_photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-th_2356260.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Photography is the art of not pushing the button.” — Frank Horvat", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Frank Horvat", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-horvat/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Photography is the art of not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-the-button/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-horvat/photography-is-the-art-of-not-pushing-the-button/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```