William Eggleston Quotes

The main reason I went to digital was because I got time-lapse, video, and still images all in one camera. Having a minimal amount of gear is really important for someone who wants to walk around. That allowed me to have this flexibility to document things in different ways.

The pictures are there, and you just take them.

Don't think too much. The best pictures come naturally.

Beauty is everywhere. And my photography came naturally without any particular inspirations growing up.

It gives you more freedom, the digital camera.

I think a lot of the time these days people are so concerned about having the right camera and the right film and the right lenses and all the special effects that go along with it, even the computer, that they're missing the key element.

I'm not an equipment nut. I tend to use whatever's to hand. I have several cameras, of course, but I'm not emotional about any of them.

I honestly can't characterize my style in words. It seems that whatever comes to me naturally, I play.

I never think about a shoot before I do it. Because there's no formula for people. What I try to do is to strip everything away rather than go in with preconceived notions. If I do that, I might miss a gem or a jewel that the person is offering me.

Sometimes things just fall out of your head on the paper, and if you're smart, you learn not to touch them.

I never question what to do, it tells me what to do. The photographs make themselves with my help.

The artist need not know very much; best of all let him work instinctively and paint as naturally as he breathes or walks.

Life is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule. Nevertheless one had better know the rules, for they sometimes guide in doubtful cases, though not often.

It's important not to think too much about what you do.

I love a well composed shot. It doesn't necessarily have to be beautiful, but it must be well composed.

I don’t have a philosophy. I have a camera. I look into the camera and take pictures. My photographs are the tiniest part of what I see that could be photographed. They are fragments of endless possibilities.

You put your camera around your neck along with putting on your shoes, and there it is, an appendage of the body that shares your life with you. The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.

I'm not responsible for my photographs. Photography is not documentary, but intuition, a poetic experience. It's drowning yourself, dissolving yourself, and then sniff, sniff, sniff - being sensitive to coincidence. You can't go looking for it; you can't want it, or you won't get it. First you must lose your self. Then it happens.

The camera's a ballpoint pen, an imbecile; it's not worth anything if you don't have anything to say.

When the woman is attractive, is it an interesting picture, or is it the woman? I had a lot of headaches with that, which was why it was interesting. I don't think I always got it straight.

When you start thinking as far as what's a good photo, unfortunately everything starts looking like a good photo.

I think I'm true to myself - you hear that actors have like plans. I'm gonna do this type of movie, then I'm gonna play this kind of character, and that'll get me from A to B. I've never done that. I honestly just follow my gut and I don't think you can go wrong with that.

Don't think. Get out of your head. Stop planning and just go.

Less rules, more intuition.

Nobody does a lot of plotting. They can't. Everybody wants to do that in life, but I think it's almost impossible. Opportunities present themselves, and you say, "Hey, is this interesting to me?" Is this something you might want to pursue? Maybe you'll get it, maybe you won't. It really does have to do with a "one foot in front of the other" kind of thing, I think.