The camera is for us a tool, not a pretty mechanical toy ... people think far too much about techniques and not enough about seeing.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
All I care about these days is painting — photography has never been more than a way into painting, a sort of instant drawing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a deep commitment to painting while viewing photography as merely a tool for expressing artistic ideas.
Henri Cartier-Bresson emphasizes the primacy of painting in his artistic pursuits, portraying photography as a secondary medium that facilitates his exploration of painting. He suggests that while photography has its value, it ultimately serves as an entry point or a preliminary sketch for the more profound experience and expression found in painting.
Themes
PaintingPhotographyArtExpressionCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
In an art class discussing the importance of various mediums, this quote can highlight the artist's perspective on their craft.
More from Henri Cartier-Bresson
All quotes →The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
Photographier: c'est mettre sur la meme ligne de mire la tete, l'oeil et le coeur.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
Above all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
Pictures, regardless of how they are created and recreated, are intended to be looked at. This brings to the forefront not the technology of imaging, which of course is important, but rather what we might call the eyenology (seeing).
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
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