Minor White

“One should not only photograph things for what they are but for what else they are.”

“All photographs are self-portraits.”

“Be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence.”

“No matter how slow the film, Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer It has chosen.”

“Let the subject generate its own photograph. Become a camera.”

“At first glance a photograph can inform us. At second glance it can reach us.”

“While we are photographing, we are discovering.”

“I am always mentally photographing everything as practice.”

“A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.”

“The photographer projects himself into everything he sees, identifying himself with everything in order to know it and feel it better.”

“A very receptive state of mind... not unlike a sheet of film itself - seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a second's exposure conceives a life in it.”

“The state of mind of a photographer while creating is a blank.”

“When you approach something to photograph, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave until you have captured its essence.”