8 Quotes by Manuel Alvarez Bravo

I think that light and shadow have exactly the same duality that exists between life and death.

I think that a visual artist’s philosophy develops much more freely than a writer’s or a thinker’s philosophy. It is not so disciplined. The photographer works with both his eyes and his mind.

Shoot what you see, not what you think.

I give the moment permanence.

The word ‘art’ is very slippery. It really has no importance in relation to one’s work. I work for the pleasure, for the pleasure of the work, and everything else is a matter for the critics.

There is no other art with as great a democratic capacity as photography.

A photographer’s main instrument is his eyes. Strange as it may seem, many photographers choose to use the eyes of another photographer, past or present, instead of their own. Those photographers are blind.

Down here everything is symbol and mystery.