Bill Jay Quotes & Sayings

If you take pictures does that make you an art thief? — Bill Jay

This is life. It is everywhere, and it is here for the taking. I am alive and I know this, now, in a more profound way than when I am doing anything else. These sights are ephemeral, fleeting treasures that have been offered to me and to me alone. No other person in the history of the world, anywhere in all of time and space, has been granted this gift to be here in my place. And I am privileged, through the camera, to take this moment away with me. That is why I photograph. — Bill Jay

I seem to walk in the world as two people. The normal everyday-me is as preoccupied, unobservant and oblivious to visual clues as I ever was. Then there is the photographer-me, the one who has a camera in hand and a specific project in mind, and then the world suddenly jumps to life with potential pictures, as if a switch had been thrown in my brain and a different person is looking out of the same eyes. — Bill Jay

Photography opens your eyes a little wider to the world around you. — Bill Jay

At exhibition openings always praise the chicken for laying eggs; you can wring its neck later. — Bill Jay

Evolution in action: First, God said, 'Let there be light.' Then, he created two nude models. Now we have photographers. — Bill Jay

If you are intent on drawing or painting on your prints, you must first learn to draw and paint at least as well as you photograph. — Bill Jay

If you cannot think of anything to say that is useful or enlightening about your images, then don't say anything. There are plenty of other people who would love to put words in your mouth. — Bill Jay

If there is a single factor which separates the best photographers from the wannabes it is the quantity of images which they produce. They seem to be forever shooting. I have watched many of them as they take picture after picture even when they are not photographing. [ ... ] Often these intimate images do not look as though they were taken by the same photographer. And that is their fascination and charm. — Bill Jay

Ask photographers to write and they have nothing to say; ask them to talk about their work and they won't shut up. — Bill Jay

I agree, intellectualism in photography is overrated. I just wish it could be replaced by common sense. — Bill Jay

'Ornithologists concluded that migratory birds take hundreds of naps as they fly; they also practice unilateral eye closure, in which one eye closes, thereby permitting half the brain to sleep.' Is this what happens when photographers close one eye to look through a viewfinder? If so, they might be operating with only half a brain. Perhaps that explains ... — Bill Jay

Photographers, like kids, should be seen and not heard. — Bill Jay

Predators and prey always coexist. That's why we have galleries as well as photographers. — Bill Jay

But there are times when thinking is misplaced, like when taking photographs. You cannot think your way to making photographs; you can photograph your way to clearer thinking. — Bill Jay

Only in art can you make something that no one wants and still be considered successful. — Bill Jay

True, there are photographers who are failed artists, but so are most artists. — Bill Jay

My point is that meaning is always personal, changeable and subjective. There is no 'correct' interpretation of a photograph. — Bill Jay

I'd like my coffin to be a camera obscura so I can see what's going on outside. — Bill Jay

Advice to artists: always take the opportunity to shut up. — Bill Jay

A photograph is a picture and no more true or false than any other depiction; why is that so hard to comprehend? — Bill Jay

When you can't think of anything else, photograph graffiti, nudes, or plants. — Bill Jay

Words of wisdom for every photographer: 'Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking'. So said Goethe. — Bill Jay

I appreciate photographs which celebrate harmony. I don't particularly want to look at chaos. I see enough of that at home. — Bill Jay

The best way for photographers to become rich and famous is to go into another field. — Bill Jay

If it is not an interesting picture when in focus, it is not going to be a better picture out of focus. — Bill Jay

I was offered $100,000 for a print. Then I woke up. — Bill Jay

There are many reasons why photography does not attract the social and cultural attention it deserves. I would add one more which has received scant attention: it does not make a lot of noise ... Perhaps photography would be more appreciated if camera shutters fired with the sound of a .357 Magnum. — Bill Jay

I talk a lot about photography. It's cheap becuase my supply always exceeds demand. — Bill Jay

I start a lot of photo projects but never seem to ... — Bill Jay

Asked for your opinion on the prints, you have two choices: truth or tact. I ask for the bathroom. — Bill Jay

Discussions allow photographers to shuffle their prejudices — Bill Jay

A photograph is a mirror; mostly it reflects the prejudices of the viewer. — Bill Jay

Photographers have already photographed everything too many times, except cheese. — Bill Jay

Photography is inextricably linked with life; the photographer is not invisibly behind the camera but projecting a life-attitude through the lens to create an interference pattern with the image. Who he is, what he believes, not only becomes important to know intellectually, but also becomes revealed emotionally and visibly through a body of work. — Bill Jay

If you are bored with your own photography you are really bored with what you are photographing, so pick a new subject about which you are knowledgeable and enthusiastic. — Bill Jay

Photographers who carry 60 pounds of equipment up a hill to photograph a view are not suffering enough, although their whining causes enough suffering among their listeners. No, if they really expect us to respect their search for enlightenment and artistic expression, in [the] future they will drag the equipment up the hill by their genitals and take the view with a tripod leg stuck through their foot. — Bill Jay

Why do photographers photograph? To make unreality visible. — Bill Jay

Think clearly, act sensibly, commit yourself to caring and work hard in order to discover joy. Then give the images back to the world from which they were taken. — Bill Jay

A few photographers make a killing; the rest can't make a living. — Bill Jay

The subject, the thing itself, is the genesis of all types of photography. — Bill Jay

Be gentle and tolerant. Intimacy will grow, but will take time and cannot be rushed. If all goes well, soon you will become more familiar with each other, and handling will forge awkward fumbling and fondling into more satisfying and productive caresses and eventually into a comfortable working partnership. At this stage you will be ready to accompany your new camera into the world. — Bill Jay

Museum collections have given photography rigor, and mortis. — Bill Jay