Ralph Steiner Quotes

There are only two hard things in photography; which way to point the camera and when to release the shutter.

Photographers undervalue the use of a wastebasket in their pursuit of fine photography.

By showing a picture, you're showing an x-ray of your heart.

Eventually I discovered for myself the utterly simple prescription for creativity; be intensely yourself. Don't try to be outstanding; don't try to be a success;don't try to do pictures for others to look at- just please yourself.

These days I think the composers of music influence me more than any photographers or visual creators. I see something exciting or lovely and think to myself: 'If Papa Haydn or Wolfgang Amadeus or the red-headed Vivaldi were here with a camera, they'd snap a picture of what's in front of me.' So I take the picture for them.