Jay Maisel Quotes

You have to let the past successes go, or you'll never be able to see anew.

Allow yourself to lose your way.

Failing is not a problem. Not trying is a problem.

The whole world is there for you. Gifts will happen, but only if you are patient with life itself, the shooting process, and your own limitations.

Always carry a camera, it's tough to shoot a picture without one.

Always wait for the trigger. The trigger is the final part of the puzzle, the reason you want to shoot.

There really isn't anything that you could call 'bad' color. It all has to do with the amount of color you use and in what context it appears.

It's a lot easier to take pictures if you always have the camera with you.

When finding the right angle for a shot ... 'Move your ass.'

You cannot accurately remember color ...

You must be open to what otherwise may seem to be a detriment to your 'plans'.

We don't experience light, color, and gesture in a vacuum. We experience it in contexts.

I don't see light as something that falls, but as a positive force.

It's my obligation to take out all the 'wrong' pictures.

You have to learn not only from your failures. You must also learn from your successes.

Each picture you take has power as long as it brings experience to the person who's looking at it.

Be aware of every square millimeter of your frame.

You need minimum color for maximum effect.

Every picture should have a place you can go, a home, a climax.

As people, we love pattern. But interrupted pattern is more interesting.

Pain is not a conduit to art or joy

Don't overthink things in front of you. I fit moves you, shoot it. If it's fun, shoot it. If you've never seen it before, shoot it.

What you're shooting at doesn't matter, the real question is: 'Does it give you joy?'

The best camera is the one you have with you.

'Color' is quite different from 'colors.' In an image with many colors, we find that all the colors compete with each other rather than interacting with each other. The results colors.

leave yourself open to accept things rather than anxiously searching for them. You

Never put lettering in your photos unless you want it read.

First, perseverance trumps talent. Second, do what you want to do, otherwise why bother? Third, be ethical; it might rub off on others. Fourth, don't give up.

Never say you're going back - SHOOT IT NOW!

If you want to make more interesting pictures, become a more interesting person.

I'm a New Yorker. I don't believe in air unless I can see it.

Forget what it was. Look at what it is.

You sort of have to be always aware, even when you're not thinking of shooting. That's when the best stuff happens.

You must not think of yourself as looking at the stage from the audience. You must think of it as theatre in the round and look at it from all sides.

If you don't have a camera, the best thing you can do is describe how great it looked.

Keep your mind open. You may very well learn something new about yourself and your pictures.

It's not just when you shoot, or what you shot, or where you shoot, it's the combination of the three.

There are rules about perception, but not about photography.

There's one of the great lies of all times, that computers save time. They don't. They're time suckers. So, I'm trying not to get involved in the Photoshop.

You always end up with too many pictures to edit and too few that you feel 'got it'.

Color really doesn't have interaction if it's full of colors. It's the interaction or relationship among or between colors that makes a color image. This usually happens with a few colors, not a glut of them.

Gesture is not always action.

When you shoot, that is opportunity number one to make a statement. When you edit, you have opportunity number two to make your statement. It could be an affirmation of your first choice or could go off in another direction.

One color alone means nothing. I acts as in a vacuum, with no other colors to relate to. It is only when colors relate to other colors that the fun begins.

You are responsible for every part of your image, even the parts you're not interested in.

Remember that most people (those who are not photographers) don't even see the things that you missed. Many don't even look. Ergo, you are way ahead of the game.

It's important to realize that the images are everywhere, not just where you want or expect them to be.

Always shoot it now. It won't be the same when you go back.

Sometimes as you work, you find that you are learning things about your own perceptions and motivations that are way below you consciousness. If you get lucky, you recognize what you are doing, but all too often we don't find the connection between our work and our own motivations.

The more light you have in an image, the less drama you get. The details start taking over; the mystery is all gone.

Money and fame that photography can bring you are wonderful, but nothing can compare to the joy of seeing something new.

As you see something that yo want to shot and it's bearing down on you, it's important to start framing long before the subject gets close to you. The light will reveal itself possibly long before you want to take the image, but you have to wait until the picture comes to you, and if you've been anticipating carefully when the subject will be in position, the background will have been figured out in advance.

You can't just turn on when something happens, you have to be turned on all the time. Then things happen.

You will, in time, see and show others not just the superficial, but the details, the meanings, and the implications of all that you look at ...

There is no one solution to all problems. It's the problem itself that can lead to the solution.

Light gesture and color of the key compliments of any photograph. Light and color are obvious, but it is just her that is the most important. There is gesture in everything. It's up to you to find a gesture that is most telling.

Some have said that if you take a great picture in color and take away the color, you'll have a great black-and-white picture. But if you're shooting something about color and you take away the color, you'll have nothing.

Gesture will survive whatever kind of light you have. Gesture can triumph over anything because of its narrative content.

Try to go out empty and let your images fill you up.

If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you're not out there, you'll only hear about it.

Photography is an act of love.