Street photography quotes are a great way to find out how and why photographers capture the streets.
Some of these quotes come from famous street photographers. Other quotes come from photographers whose words resonate with my own ideas and thoughts.
Here are the best 25 street photography quotes. Enjoy!
‘The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.’
Robert Doisneau
‘Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.’
George Addair
‘When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.’
Robert Frank
‘I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed.’
Garry Winogrand
‘I fell in love with the process of taking pictures, with wandering around finding things. To me it feels like a kind of performance. The picture is a document of that performance.’
Alec Soth
‘Be yourself. I much prefer seeing something, even it is clumsy, that doesn’t look like somebody else’s work.’
William Klein
‘You fill up the frame with feelings, energy, discovery, and risk, and leave room enough for someone else to get in there.’
‘All the technique in the world doesn’t compensate for the inability to notice.’
Elliott Erwitt
‘A photograph has picked up a fact of life, and that fact will live forever.’
Raghu Rai
‘If you can smell the street by looking at the photo, it’s a street photograph.’
Bruce Gilden
‘It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.’
Alfred Eisenstaedt
‘Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph.’
Andre Kertesz
‘Since I’m inarticulate, I express myself with images.’
Helen Levitt
‘There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.’
‘If your photos aren’t good enough, then you’re not close enough.’
Robert Capa
‘I only know how to approach a place by walking. For what does a street photographer do but walk and watch and wait and talk, and then watch and wait some more, trying to remain confident that the unexpected, the unknown, or the secret heat of the known awaits just around the corner.’
Alex Webb
‘A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you.’
Brigitte Bardot
‘A photograph is the pause button on life.’
Ty Holland
‘I am forever chasing light. Light turns the ordinary into the magical.’
Trent Parke
‘The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things in words.’
Elliott Erwitt
‘No matter how advanced your camera you still need to be responsible for getting it to the right place at the right time and pointing it in the right direction to get the photo you want.’
Ken Rockwell
‘I love the people I photograph. I mean, they’re my friends. I’ve never met most of them or I don’t know them at all, yet through my images I live with them.’
Bruce Gilden
‘There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.’
Ernst Haas
‘It’s weird that photographers spend years or even a whole lifetime, trying to capture moments that added together, don’t even amount to a couple of hours.’
James Lalropui Keivom
‘To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.’
Elliott Erwitt
Conclusion: Street Photography Quotes
Who wouldn’t want to hit the streets after reading those? Pack your gear and take some street photos of your own. If you liked this article, you’ll love reading the most influential street photographers!
Don’t struggle with bulky camera manuals while photographing the streets! Check out our Quick Capture Cheat Sheets that are compact, informational and perfect for learning on-the-go!
