156 Quotes by Annie Leibovitz

I feel very proud of the work from the ’80s because it is very bright and colorful.

One doesn’t stop seeing. One doesn’t stop framing. It doesn’t turn off and turn on. It’s on all the time.

Photography’s like this baby that needs to be fed all the time. It’s always hungry.

In a portrait, you have room to have a point of view. The image may not be literally what’s going on, but it’s representative.

It’s a heavy weight, the camera. Now we have modern and lightweight, small plastic cameras, but in the ’70s they were heavy metal.

When I’m asked about my work, I try to explain that there is no mystery involved. It is work. But things happen all the time that are unexpected, uncontrolled, unexplainable, even magical. The work prepares you for that moment. Suddenly the clouds roll in and the soft light you longed for appears.

I shoot a little bit, maybe two rolls, medium format, which is 20 pictures, and if it’s not working, I change the position.

When you go to take someone’s picture, the first thing they say is, what you want me to do? Everyone is very awkward.

There is a myth that the portrait photographer is supposed to make the subject relax, and that’s the real person. But I’m interested in whatever is going on. And I’m not that comfortable myself.