190 Quotes by Ansel Adams

We observe few objects really closely. As we walk on the earth, we observe the external events at two or three arms' lengths. If we ride a horse or drive in an automobile, we are further separated from the immediate surround. We see and photograph "scenery"; our vast world is inadequately described as the "landscape." The most intimate object perceived daily is usually the printed page. The small and commonplace are rarely explored.

For me it is most often an immediate reaction; the more I look for something, the less chance there is for finding anything of value.

The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it!

With all art expression, when something is seen, it is a vivid experience, sudden, compelling, and inevitable.

There are two people in every photograph: the photographer and the viewer

Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.

You don’t take a photograph, you make it.

A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.

I can look at a fine art photograph and sometimes I can hear music.