Alexey Brodovitch Quotes

#1. When I say that a good picture has surprise quality or shock appeal, I do not mean that it is a loud or vulgar picture but, instead, that it stimulates my thinking and intrigues me.

Alexey Brodovitch

#2. It is the end result that counts.

Alexey Brodovitch

#3. The photograph is not only a pictorial report; it is also a psychological report. It represents the feelings and point of view of the intelligence behind the camera.

Alexey Brodovitch

#4. What is good today may be a cliche tomorrow.

Alexey Brodovitch

#5. It is the photographer's decision at the two levels of seeing the picture - when it is shot and when it is chosen and printed that determines his personal style.

Alexey Brodovitch

#6. The creative life of the commercial photographer is like the life of a butterfly. Very seldom do we see a photographer who is really productive for more than eight or ten years.

Alexey Brodovitch

#7. It is every photographer's responsibility to discover new images and a new personal way of looking at things. If he can do this his pictures will command attention and have surprise quality.

Alexey Brodovitch

#8. Imitation is the greatest danger of the young [artist].

Alexey Brodovitch

#9. Outstanding past work in photography, and in fact in all the arts, is very important to today's photographers. But it should be used for inspiration and not for imitation. These works should be something to be built upon, not to be repeated.

Alexey Brodovitch

#10. There is no recipe for good layout, what must be maintained is a feeling of change and contrast. A layout man should be simple with good photographs. He should perform acrobatics when the pictures are bad.

Alexey Brodovitch

#11. If you know yourself, you are doomed.

Alexey Brodovitch

#12. It is the unexpected and the surprise quality of a personal vision, rather than the emotion, which make people respond to a photograph.

Alexey Brodovitch

#13. The public is being spoiled by good technical quality photographs in magazines, on television, in the movies, and they have become bored. The disease of our age is this boredom and a good photographer must successfully combat it. The only way to do this is by invention - by surprise.

Alexey Brodovitch

#14. When the novice photographer starts taking pictures, he carries his camera about and shoots everything that interests him. There comes a time when he must crystallize his ideas and set off in an particular direction. He must learn that shooting for the sake of shooting is dull and unprofitable.

Alexey Brodovitch

#15. The best way to achieve surprise quality is by avoiding cliches.

Alexey Brodovitch

#16. If you see something you have seen before, don't click the shutter.

Alexey Brodovitch

#17. Astonish me! (Instruction to photographers)

Alexey Brodovitch