Ruth Bernhard

“The hands are the most beautifully constructed, expressive, and difficult part of the human body.”

“You have to be obsessed. It’s not something you play with; it’s a lifetime.”

“If I have chosen the female form in particular, it is because beauty has been debased and exploited in our sensual 20th century. We are bombarded with pathetic images of the female body. I want to restore the reverence for the body that it deserves.”

“Light is my inspiration, my paint and brush. It is the index of my feeling.”

“The camera is a means of detection. It's a way of revealing what's already there.”

“I am not interested in the new. I am interested in the eternal.”

“Creativity is the ability to see relationships where none exist.”

“Photography is my passion. The search for truth my obsession.”

“The joy of seeing is my only religion.”

“It is not my intention to make anything better. It is my intention to see things as they are.”

“To be a photographer is to be a student of life.”

“Age is not a barrier. It is a limitation you put on your mind.”

“I feel that I am not a creator. I am a revealer. I am a finder. My art is not to be understood, but to be felt.”

“Teaching has been the most important part of my life.”

“My aim is to show the beauty of the human form, not to exploit it.”