The true subject is what moves, what lies outside of places or habits. Whether it's in painting or music, the true subject is oneself in a way; it's a kind of absolute.
(Le Paris de Boubat, 1990)
(Le Paris de Boubat, 1990)
Was it the same light that enchanted the first photographers? It is the same, and it is still brand new - it is something that never wears out.
(Amoureux de Paris, 1993)
(Amoureux de Paris, 1993)
Who am I always? I am always an answer, ready-made answers that are just waiting. Myself, here, now, among the myriad beings searching for their own unity: that's who I want to be.
I see people in landscapes, in salt flats or in the pampas, buffered by the wind or burned by the sun and by fits of anger, storms, shifts of light, seasons and rainy days.
But time passes, it doesn't stop. Only that one moment is captured forever on film... That is the magic of photography. You believe what you see. But all you can touch is the present.
(Images du XXsiecle by Mark Edward Harris, 1998)
Life exists. It is passes on. It is a great mystery; something that goes beyond us and through us. It is reality.
Beauty is more beautiful than any proof of it. Love is more beautiful than any proof of it. (Notebooks, 1998)
There is much more in me that does not change than that does change. My eyes see only the things that change. But my heart sometimes knows the things that do not change. (Notebooks, 1999)
And from every sensation, an eternal moment springs.
(Amoureux de Paris, 1993)
We are all living letters. All our troubles, our problems and our joys are written inside us. We are living photographs. Photography reveals the images hidden within us.
(Le Paris de Boubat, 1990)
The present is rare. The present is obvious.
(Notebooks, 1999)
Poetry does not exist; it must be made, endlessly searched for.
But time passes, it doesn't stop. Only that one moment is captured forever on film... That is the magic of photography. You believe what you see. But all you can touch is the present.
(Images du XXsiecle by Mark Edward Harris, 1998)
Life exists. It is passes on. It is a great mystery; something that goes beyond us and through us. It is reality.
Beauty is more beautiful than any proof of it. Love is more beautiful than any proof of it. (Notebooks, 1998)
There is much more in me that does not change than that does change. My eyes see only the things that change. But my heart sometimes knows the things that do not change. (Notebooks, 1999)
And from every sensation, an eternal moment springs.
(Amoureux de Paris, 1993)
We are all living letters. All our troubles, our problems and our joys are written inside us. We are living photographs. Photography reveals the images hidden within us.
(Le Paris de Boubat, 1990)
The present is rare. The present is obvious.
(Notebooks, 1999)
Poetry does not exist; it must be made, endlessly searched for.
The most important thing is to go out and see the stars, not to see them in the books. There are some books that make you see stars.
(Notebooks, 1958)
(Notebooks, 1958)
Every Moment Should Be Lived in All Its Unpredictability
...I only took two or three shots; it wasn't worth taking fifty. On moments when you're just taking a chance, it's not worth taking ten rolls of film; the picture's right in front of you...
Every moment should be lived in all its unpredictability. I was lucky enough to know Eugene Smith, who I think is one of the great photographers. I met him in 1950, and even back then he was already having problems with Life, because they kept saying to him - the best of their photographers - 'Go and take photo of this, go and do that...' And he, who was ultrasensitive, was sick of it all, because he knew that you couldn't tell in advance what you are going to find.
I also remember a guy, in Africa, who was walking behind me - or perhaps in front of me, I barely remember - through some forest, and he said to me: 'Oh, it's not a matter of looking , it's a matter of seeing.' I didn't understand what he meant at first, but then I thought about it. I think he meant that you shouldn't get too involved in the details, but should see the whole picture. Of course, I do see enough to frame my shot... But I'm absorbed - that's the moment when I just get carried away...
The most beautiful instant in photography is the instant when you click the shutter. At the moment when I 'm shooting a portrait or a landscape, Boubat no longer exists. That's the secret; there's no Boubat, no Italian village; for that brief moment we are all part of a whole, we are no longer separated from the landscape or from the person in front of us. That's why I don't look at details; there's nothing there any more, I see nothing, even I can still see, because I'm able to frame it, and I know that if I move a little this way or that way, it will be ruined. Nonetheless, in that perfect moment, there's no more Boubat: there's nothing. (Entre Vues by Frank Horvat, 1986)
I simply love photography. It is everything in life. It is inexhaustible. A bunch of flowers is inexhaustible; you can look at it from different points of view, under different lights, and ten photographers would take ten different pictures. I tend to prefer things that cannot be shown in any way other than by photography: the work of Eugene Smith, for example, and all the other eyewitnesses of life.
In any attempt at expression, there are two aspects that come together: the metaphysical and the visible, the irrational and the practical: technique. The measurable and the immeasurable. Of course, you can measure the length of the pose or the distance, you can measure almost everything, but can you measure what is really important, what touches us?
It's striking how technique in photography is often at one extreme or the other. Sometimes it's negligible - 'push the button, we'll do the rest'. Sometimes it's exaggerated, with the camera or equipment being almost fetishized. To some, the camera is more beautiful than the result, like the music system being more beautiful than the music.
Technique should be a means.
But a means of what? That's the question.
The answer lies in the photograph, or more precisely, with the photographer.
The photographer is in the photograph too.
It is the same with anything that interests us; it contains both the visible and the invisible. In photography too, what is not shown is perhaps the greater part, and we recognize the magic of the image. It is a privilege that only humans possess, if indeed it is a privilege. The image as it first appears in the developing tray is magical too, and I like to make it happen.
My only advice is: the inadvisable. Let's move closer to life, let's open our eyes.
(From La Photo by Chenz and Jeanloup Sieff, 1976)
The Surprise
Don't try to explain the photograph; let it keep its mystery...The sun comes into the studio, sometimes into the darkroom to create a dream of eternity. And the photograph fools us and then appears in a book. Only the craft of the photographer cannot be learned. The craft of moments is an invented one. Just as someone who finds a treasure becomes its creator...
The photographers and the photographed find each other
The photographer is there in his photograph just as the musician is in his music, or as God in his creations.
A photograph gives you a deep insight into a moment, it recalls the whole world.
As the years pass, you learn that you don't take anything. In some ancient languages, did they use the same word for give and take? You take a photo in order to give it: it comes back to life under your gaze. A moment becomes a present, in both senses.
Eyes are not enough o see. the brightest light is the one that knows life.
You know this inner light, and then you meet another light, you can show it: O photographer!
The shutter, in all its mystery, becomes a way of taking part in life.Let's play the game of time and moments.
A game of 'loser wins'.
Let's share our gaze.
Image Magic
I simply love photography. It is everything in life. It is inexhaustible.... I tend to prefer things that cnnot be shown in any other way other than by photography...
In any attempt at expression, ther are two aspects that come together: the metaphysical and the visible, the irrational and the practical technique. The measurable and the immeasurable.
It's striking how technique in photography is often at one extreme or the other. Sometimes it's negligible - 'push the button, we'll do the rest'. Sometimes it's exaggerated, with the camera or equipment being almost fetishized. To some the camera is more beautiful than the result...
Technique should be a means.
But a means of what? That's the question.
The answer lies in the photograph, or more precisely, with the photographer.
The photographer is in hte photograph too.
It is the same with everything that interests us; it contains both the visible and the invisible. In photography too, what is not shown is perhaps the greatest part, and we recognize the magic of the image. It is a privilege that only humans possess, if indeed it is a privilege. The image as it first appears in hte developing tray is magical too, and I like to make it happen.
My only advice is: the inadvisable. Let's move closer to life, let's open our eyes.
(From La Photo by Chenz Jeanloup Sieff, 1976)
I simply love photography. It is everything in life. It is inexhaustible. A bunch of flowers is inexhaustible; you can look at it from different points of view, under different lights, and ten photographers would take ten different pictures. I tend to prefer things that cannot be shown in any way other than by photography: the work of Eugene Smith, for example, and all the other eyewitnesses of life.
In any attempt at expression, there are two aspects that come together: the metaphysical and the visible, the irrational and the practical: technique. The measurable and the immeasurable. Of course, you can measure the length of the pose or the distance, you can measure almost everything, but can you measure what is really important, what touches us?
It's striking how technique in photography is often at one extreme or the other. Sometimes it's negligible - 'push the button, we'll do the rest'. Sometimes it's exaggerated, with the camera or equipment being almost fetishized. To some, the camera is more beautiful than the result, like the music system being more beautiful than the music.
Technique should be a means.
But a means of what? That's the question.
The answer lies in the photograph, or more precisely, with the photographer.
The photographer is in the photograph too.
It is the same with anything that interests us; it contains both the visible and the invisible. In photography too, what is not shown is perhaps the greater part, and we recognize the magic of the image. It is a privilege that only humans possess, if indeed it is a privilege. The image as it first appears in the developing tray is magical too, and I like to make it happen.
My only advice is: the inadvisable. Let's move closer to life, let's open our eyes.
(From La Photo by Chenz and Jeanloup Sieff, 1976)
The Surprise
Don't try to explain the photograph; let it keep its mystery...The sun comes into the studio, sometimes into the darkroom to create a dream of eternity. And the photograph fools us and then appears in a book. Only the craft of the photographer cannot be learned. The craft of moments is an invented one. Just as someone who finds a treasure becomes its creator...
The photographers and the photographed find each other
The photographer is there in his photograph just as the musician is in his music, or as God in his creations.
A photograph gives you a deep insight into a moment, it recalls the whole world.
As the years pass, you learn that you don't take anything. In some ancient languages, did they use the same word for give and take? You take a photo in order to give it: it comes back to life under your gaze. A moment becomes a present, in both senses.
Eyes are not enough o see. the brightest light is the one that knows life.
You know this inner light, and then you meet another light, you can show it: O photographer!
The shutter, in all its mystery, becomes a way of taking part in life.Let's play the game of time and moments.
A game of 'loser wins'.
Let's share our gaze.
Image Magic
I simply love photography. It is everything in life. It is inexhaustible.... I tend to prefer things that cnnot be shown in any other way other than by photography...
In any attempt at expression, ther are two aspects that come together: the metaphysical and the visible, the irrational and the practical technique. The measurable and the immeasurable.
It's striking how technique in photography is often at one extreme or the other. Sometimes it's negligible - 'push the button, we'll do the rest'. Sometimes it's exaggerated, with the camera or equipment being almost fetishized. To some the camera is more beautiful than the result...
Technique should be a means.
But a means of what? That's the question.
The answer lies in the photograph, or more precisely, with the photographer.
The photographer is in hte photograph too.
It is the same with everything that interests us; it contains both the visible and the invisible. In photography too, what is not shown is perhaps the greatest part, and we recognize the magic of the image. It is a privilege that only humans possess, if indeed it is a privilege. The image as it first appears in hte developing tray is magical too, and I like to make it happen.
My only advice is: the inadvisable. Let's move closer to life, let's open our eyes.
(From La Photo by Chenz Jeanloup Sieff, 1976)
