16 Quotes by Alexey Brodovitch

When I say that a good picture has surprise quality or shock appeal, I do not mean that it is a loud or vulgar picture but, instead, that it stimulates my thinking and intrigues me.

It is the unexpected and the surprise quality of a personal vision, rather than the emotion, which make people respond to a photograph.

The creative life of the commercial photographer is like the life of a butterfly. Very seldom do we see a photographer who is really productive for more than eight or ten years.

Outstanding past work in photography, and in fact in all the arts, is very important to today’s photographers. But it should be used for inspiration and not for imitation. These works should be something to be built upon, not to be repeated.

When the novice photographer starts taking pictures, he carries his camera about and shoots everything that interests him. There comes a time when he must crystallize his ideas and set off in an particular direction. He must learn that shooting for the sake of shooting is dull and unprofitable.

It is every photographer’s responsibility to discover new images and a new personal way of looking at things. If he can do this his pictures will command attention and have surprise quality.

It is the photographer’s decision at the two levels of seeing the picture – when it is shot and when it is chosen and printed that determines his personal style.