Berenice Abbott

Bio

•  American photographer 
• Know for her portraits of between-the-wars 20th century cultural figures, New York City photographs of architecture and urban design of the 1930s, and science interpretation in the 1940s to 1960s

"The camera is no more an instrument of preservation, the image is."

"I didn't decide to be a photographer; I just happened to fall into it." 

"Photography can only represent the present. Once photographed, the subject becomes part of the past."

Joe McNally

Bio

•  American photographer
• shooting for the National Geographic Society since 1987
• He has won four awards from World Press Photo

"Photography used to be not for the faint of heart."

"Some of the pictures are bad, some of them are good, and many of them need some seasoning and direction."

"I've been a big fan always of getting my camera in different places and trying to seek the unusual vantage point."

Ellen von Unwerth

Bio

• German photographer and director
• specializes in erotic femininity
• worked as a fashion model for ten years before becoming a photographer

Mary Ellen Mark

Bio

• American photographer known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture, and advertising photography
•  Photographed people who were "away from mainstream society"
•  Work was exhibited at galleries and museums worldwide

"I think photography is closest to writing, not painting. It's closest to writing because you are using this machine to convey an idea. The image shouldn't need a caption; it should already convey an idea."

"Every photograph is the photographer's opinion about something. It's how they feel about something: what they think is horrible, tragic, funny."

"Photograph the world as it is. Nothing's more interesting than reality."

Anne Geddes

Bio

• Australian-born photographer, currently living and working in New York.
• Has books published in 83 different countries

“Babies are my inspiration because of everything they represent, they change lives. The minute your baby's born, you're a dad or you're a mother. And they create families and they bring so much joy to the world.'

"I wanted to portray them as beautiful young people, which is what they are."

"There’s only goodness around babies and that’s what I’m fascinated by, it’s just human purity right there."

Cindy Sherman

Bio

• American photographer best known for her iconic portraits that depict women as imagined characters from film and other media.
• In 2013 she received an honorary doctorate degree from the Royal College of Art, London.

"We're all products of what we want to project to the world."

"I think people are more apt to believe photographs, especially if it's something fantastic. They're willing to be more gullible. Sometimes they want fantasy."

''The still must tease with the promise of a story the viewer of it itches to be told."

Andreas Gursky

Bio

• German photographer and professor
•  Known for his large format architecture and landscape color photographs

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"My preference for clear structures is the result of my desire - perhaps illusory - to keep track of things and maintain my grip on the world."

"I am never interested in the individual, but in the human species and its environment."