Jay Maisel Quotes - Page 2

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

Gesture is not always action.

You will, in time, see and show others not just the superficial, but the details, the meanings, and the implications of all that you look at.

It's my obligation to take out all the 'wrong' pictures.

One color alone means nothing. I acts as in a vacuum, with no other colors to relate to. It is only when colors relate to other colors that the fun begins.

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

Color really doesn't have interaction if it's full of colors. It's the interaction or relationship among or between colors that makes a color image. This usually happens with a few colors, not a glut of them.

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.

There really isn't anything that you could call 'bad' color. It all has to do with the amount of color you use and in what context it appears.

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

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

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.

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

Some have said that if you take a great picture in color and take away the color, you'll have a great black-and-white picture. But if you're shooting something about color and you take away the color, you'll have nothing.

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.

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

You find that you have to do many things, more than just lift up the camera and shoot, and so you get involved in it in a very physical way. You may find that the picture you want to do can only be made from a certain place, and you're not there, so you have to physically go there. And that participation may spur you on to work harder on the thing, . . . because in the physical change of position you start seeing a whole different relationship.

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

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

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

We have always wanted to find the 'it-ness' of anything we shoot. We want to get as deep into the subject as we can.

Allow yourself to lose your way.

Remember that most people (those who are not photographers) don't even see the things that you missed. Many don't even look. Ergo, you are way ahead of the game.

When finding the right angle for a shot...'Move your ass.'

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.