Jay Maisel Quotes

If the light is great in front of you, you should turn around and see what it is doing behind you.

If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you're not out there, you'll only hear about it.

Try to go out empty and let your images fill you up.

If you want to make more interesting pictures, become a more interesting person.

Always carry a camera, it's tough to shoot a picture without one.

Photography is an act of love.

The drama of light exists not only in what is in the light, but also in what is left dark. If the light is everywhere, the drama is gone.

Always shoot it now. It won't be the same when you go back.

You are responsible for every part of your image, even the parts you’re not interested in.

Failing is not a problem. Not trying is a problem.

First, perseverance trumps talent. Second, do what you want to do, otherwise why bother? Third, be ethical; it might rub off on others. Fourth, don't give up.

Color is seductive. It changes as it interacts with other colors, it changes because of the light falling upon it, and it changes as it becomes larger in size.

If you're not shooting in the right direction, it doesn't matter how well you're shooting.

If you're just going to meet consumer or clients' demands, you might as well be a plumber - the work will be more frequently available.

I try not to tell students where to shoot, when to shoot, or what to shoot. I feel finding the picture is the most important part of being a photographer. The actual shooting is of lesser importance.

It's always around. You just don't see it.

I'm a New Yorker. I don't believe in air unless I can see it.

... there's one of the great lies of all times, that computers save time. They don't. They're time suckers. So, I'm trying not to get involved in the Photoshop.

Had I not been told to look, I would have quite, ignorant of what was really there, because I had 'made plans' and was wearing visual and emotional blinders that limited my perceptions and my vision.

If you're not your own severest critic, you are your own worst enemy.

You always end up with too many pictures to edit and too few that you feel 'got it'.

Never say you're going back - SHOOT IT NOW!

Don't overthink things in front of you. I fit moves you, shoot it. If it's fun, shoot it. If you've never seen it before, shoot it.

If you can capture the element of surprise, you're way ahead of the game.

Gesture will survive whatever kind of light you have. Gesture can triumph over anything because of its narrative content.

Money and fame that photography can bring you are wonderful, but nothing can compare to the joy of seeing something new.

The best camera is the one you have with you.

I love when pictures ask questions or make others ask questions.

I don't see light as something that falls, but as a positive force.

I want to go out as unprepared as possible so I can get filled up with what the world has to offer.

A photographer's art is more in his perceptions than his execution. In a painter, I think the perception is only the first step, and then you have a kind of hard road of execution.

It's important to realize that the images are everywhere, not just where you want or expect them to be.

The composition is already there, you just need to crop it

I take pictures, and they are there for the taking. I'll tell you a quote that I have always thought about. Arthur Miller said, I try to create the poem from the evidence.

Always wait for the trigger. The trigger is the final part of the puzzle, the reason you want to shoot.

You must not think of yourself as looking at the stage from the audience. You must think of it as theatre in the round and look at it from all sides.

You need minimum color for maximum effect.

As people, we love pattern. But interrupted pattern is more interesting.

What you're shooting at doesn't matter, the real question is: 'Does it give you joy?'

You have to learn not only from your failures. You must also learn from your successes.

We don't experience light, color, and gesture in a vacuum. We experience it in contexts.

Every picture should have a place you can go, a home, a climax.

If you don't have a camera, the best thing you can do is describe how great it looked.

Each picture you take has power as long as it brings experience to the person who’s looking at it.

When we are given gifts, we must be quick and able to accept them.

Never put lettering in your photos unless you want it read.

The problem suggests the solution.

There are rules about perception, but not about photography.

Sometimes without shooting a picture germinates in your head. Other times, you keep taking pictures of the same thing and watch the images mature and grow.

There is no bad light. There is spectacular light and difficult light. It's up to you to use the light you have.