Ruth Bernhard

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

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

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

“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.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

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