Photo Quotes Archives

Louvre in the rain, Paris France

Louvre IM Pei pyramid umbrella rain

Louvre, Paris

To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It's a way of life.

- Henri Cartier-Bresson

I made this picture in July 2003, back in my old-school days of film. R was attending yet another important science meeting, and I had most of a week in Paris to wander about to shoot and visit the sites. Thanks to some fortunate scheduling, I was able to see an incredible retrospective of Henri Cartier-Bresson's work at the national library.

One afternoon, we went together to the Louvre and found Paris in a summer shower when we exited the museum. As we waited to see if the rain would lighten, I made some photos. I didn't have a tripod, but as I was working on lining up the architectural elements in the scene, my personal Cartier-Bresson moment happened. The thing I like most about this photo is how the curve of her umbrella echos the archway, and the postures of the loafing Frenchmen to the side. The colors on the film are uninteresting; I think it reads much better as a B&W.

I clearly remember seeing her step into the frame and open the umbrella, and timing my shutter as the composition elements came together. This particular image gave me a shot of courage to continue pursuing my passion for photography, and to make it a way of life.

Posted by AT on July 13, 2008 7:18 PM | | Comments (1)

Where you are - State Street Neon

Capitol Motel, State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah

Capitol Motel, State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah

The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.

- John Burroughs

Posted by AT on June 27, 2008 4:54 PM |

Soar above the shadows

goddess winged wings chrome hood ornament

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one's own sunshine.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Posted by AT on April 8, 2008 6:06 PM | | Comments (2)

Thoughts on electric devices, and fear

Bill Johnson's Big Apple restaurant neon

Bill Johnson's Big Apple restaurant

We returned to Salt Lake to find the front of our palace draped in plastic in an attempt for the remodel to proceed despite the weather. Two electric space heaters running all night added a grand 5 degrees above the ambient 17°F; the propane torches they guys rented the next morning were much more effective.

The space heaters, regrettably, run on the same circuit as my computer. Before the electricians sputtered in disbelief and took decisive, mission-creeping action, my computer, my office space heater, our freezer, porch lights and furnace were all on the same circuit. We discovered this fact when a compressor and power hammer added to the line tripped the breaker. Now the furnace has its own circuit. But my computer popped off three times before I unplugged the space heaters. The contractor and I reached a consensus that 5 degrees really wasn't worth the bother.

Before we left Phoenix, I hunted down some more neon. There are actually two Bill Johnson's Big Apple restaurants; this is the Van Buren location. The sunset colors started to develop nicely. The only problem was that the sign wasn't lit. So I went inside and asked, "what time does the sign come on?" and the manager blinked, said, "when I switch it," and did just that. If nothing else, photography has emboldened me to ask silly questions, often with great success in response.

It's a small thing, to step up and ask for help, but fear is such a huge barrier in art-making that any small victory is worth celebrating.

What separates artists from ex-artists is that those who challenge their fears, continue; those who don't quit. Each step in the artmaking process puts that issue to the test.

- from Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

The book's discussion about making pictures, lots of them, in order to be able to make the pictures only I can make, has helped me rebound from innumerable failures and discouragements. It might be the best $10 I ever spent on photography.

Posted by AT on January 4, 2008 9:04 PM |

Lisette Model quote

The camera is an instrument of detection. We photograph not only what we know, but also what we don't know - Lisette Model

Bio of Lisette Model

Posted by AT on October 6, 2007 10:54 AM |

Alfred Eisenstaedt quote: know no fear

When I have a camera in my hand, I know no fear. - Alfred Eisenstaedt

Posted by AT on September 13, 2006 10:58 PM |

Wim Wenders quote: Those places called to me

In a way, I never believed that it was me who found the places I photographed, but rather that the opposite is true. Those places called to me. - Wim Wenders

Posted by AT on September 13, 2006 10:52 PM |

Changing my mind

I hope it is not as hard as this:

When Columbus returned from the New World and proclaimed the earth was round, almost everyone else went right along believing the earth was flat. Then they died -- and the next generation grew up believing the world was round. That's how people change their minds.

from Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

Posted by AT on August 23, 2003 5:54 PM |

Tags: