In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.
Sometimes I arrive just when God's ready to have somone click the shutter.
Millions of men have lived to fight, build palaces and boundaries, shape destinies and societies; but the compelling force of all times has been the force of originality and creation profoundly affecting the roots of human spirit.
There are worlds of experience beyond the world of the aggressive man, beyond history, and beyond science. The moods and qualities of nature and the revelations of great art are equally difficult to define; we can grasp them only in the depths of our perceptive spirit.
I tried to keep both arts alive, but the camera won. I found that while the camera does not express the soul, perhaps a photograph can!
These people live again in print as intensely as when their images were captured on old dry plates of sixty years ago... I am walking in their alleys, standing in their rooms and sheds and workshops, looking in and out of their windows. Any they in turn seem to be aware of me.
To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things.
Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.
Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.
Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.
The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways.
The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance.
Myths and creeds are heroic struggles to comprehend the truth in the world.
A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.
No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.
Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.
A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.
Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment.
Some photographers take reality... and impose the domination of their own thought and spirit. Others come before reality more tenderly and a photograph to them is an instrument of love and revelation.
Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.
