Some of what I consider my best work, and some of the best films that I've ever worked on, kind of disappear without a trace. There's no accounting for it. Something connects, or something doesn't.
Roger DeakinsRead
Someone said to me, early on in film school... if you can photograph the human face you can photograph anything, because that is the most difficult and most interesting thing to photograph.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Photographing the human face is the most challenging and fascinating form of photography.
This quote by Roger Deakins emphasizes the complexity and richness of capturing human expressions and emotions through photography. By stating that if one can photograph the human face, they can photograph anything, Deakins highlights the idea that mastering this skill opens doors to all other forms of visual storytelling, as the human face is often the most intricate subject due to its nuanced expressions and the connection it evokes with the viewer.
Themes
PhotographyHuman FaceEmotionsArtChallenge
In practice
Example use cases
When discussing the intricacies of portrait photography at a workshop.
More from Roger Deakins
All quotes →You can’t learn your craft by copying me or anyone else. I hope what I do can do is in some way inspire others but I would be appalled if I thought my work was being studied as ‘the right way to do the job’. My way is just one of an infinite number of ways to do the job.
Roger DeakinsRead
Am I nostalgic for film? … I mean, it’s had a good run, hasn’t it? You know, I’m not nostalgic for a technology. I’m nostalgic for the kind of films that used to be made that aren’t being made now.
Roger DeakinsRead
If you shoot with a billion cameras, then there's no perspective. You want to use one shot at a time, so it's better to discover what that is before you shoot, rather than trying to make something in the cutting room, and then it just becomes generic.
Roger DeakinsRead
There's nothing worse than an ostentatious shot or some lighting that draws attention to itself, and you might go, 'Oh, wow, that's spectacular.' Or that spectacular shot, a big crane move, or something. But it's not necessarily right for the film — you jump out, you think about the surface, and you don't stay in there with the characters and the story.
Roger DeakinsRead
Some of the smallest things on a smaller film, to me, are greater achievements than on a big film when you have the resources and the time and everything else.
Roger DeakinsRead
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