David Hurn Quotes

Life as it unfolds in front of the camera is full of so much complexity, wonder and surprise that I find it unnecessary to create new realities. There is more pleasure, for me, in things as-they-are.

You are not a photographer because you are interested in photography.

There are many forms of photography. I consider myself simply a recorder of that which I find of interest around me. I personally have no desire to create or stage direct ideas.

I’m a photographer, obviously. My chosen tool for understanding life, and communicating the results of this search to others, is the camera.

The most important piece of equipment after the camera is a good pair of shoes.

I think of myself as a reportage photographer. I like the word. It implies a personal account of an observed event with connotations of subjectivity but honesty. It is eye-witness photography.

The destination of the photograph is to reveal what something or somebody looked like, under a particular set of conditions, at a particular moment in time, and to transmit the results to others.

The fundamental issue is one of emphasis: you are not a photographer because you are interested in photography…The reason is that photography is only a tool, a vehicle, for expressing or transmitting a passion in something else. It is not the end result.

My advice is: learn from the best or teach yourself. And do not bother at all if you do not have an exaggerated sense of curiosity.

This idea fascinates me. The idea that a few seconds of watching a photographer in action can tell you his/her status in the medium. And it’s true. If you watch a photographer of merit working an event he/she does not look like an amateur.

…one day I was speculating on how I would like to look back on life and I decided I wanted to feel that I was a photographer rather than a teacher. As simple as that.