Rachel Morrison Quotes

Powerful Rachel Morrison for Daily Growth

About Rachel Morrison

Rachel Morrison, a distinguished American novelist and essayist, was born on October 31, 1964, in the heart of Detroit, Michigan. Growing up in a working-class family, Morrison's love for storytelling was nurtured from an early age through her interactions with her grandparents who regaled her with tales of their lives and experiences. Morrison earned her Bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of Michigan before attending Cornell Law School, where she graduated cum laude. However, the pull of literature was too strong, and Morrison eventually left law to pursue a career as a writer. Her debut novel, "The Bluest Eye," published in 1970, was an immediate critical success. The book, which explores themes of identity, self-loathing, and the destructive effects of white beauty standards on Black girls, was a poignant exploration of the human condition. This groundbreaking work earned Morrison a National Book Award nomination and established her as a significant voice in American literature. In 1987, Morrison published "Sula," another critically acclaimed novel that delves into the complexities of female friendship and the struggles of Black women in America. Her third novel, "Song of Solomon," published in 1977, was a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Morrison's later works include "Tar Baby" (1981), "Beloved" (1987), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and "Paradise" (1998). Her body of work has been celebrated for its exploration of race, gender, and identity in America. Throughout her career, Morrison has received numerous accolades, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993, making her the first Black woman to receive this prestigious honor. Her impact on American literature is immeasurable, and her works continue to inspire readers around the world.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"I think as storytellers, our job is to be a mirror and reflect society back to itself."

This quote by Rachel Morrison suggests that storytellers, including writers, filmmakers, and artists, have the responsibility of creating works that accurately and truthfully reflect the realities, values, flaws, and aspirations of society. In essence, Morrison proposes that these storytellers serve as mirrors to society, allowing it to see itself more clearly by holding a reflection of its own image. This introspection can foster empathy, understanding, and growth within the collective consciousness.

"The power in a story lies in its ability to allow us to see ourselves more clearly."

This quote emphasizes the transformative nature of stories. By immersing ourselves in narratives, we can gain new perspectives and insights about our own lives and experiences, fostering self-awareness and emotional understanding. The power lies in a story's ability to serve as a mirror, reflecting aspects of ourselves that we may not have noticed or understood before.

"I want to push the art form and what it means to tell stories, especially for women of color."

This quote by Rachel Morrison emphasizes her desire to challenge conventional storytelling norms within the film industry, with a focus on representation and diversity. Specifically, she aims to advance the art of storytelling for female characters of color, implying that their narratives have been underrepresented or stereotyped in the past. By pushing boundaries and redefining what it means to tell these stories, Morrison intends to create more authentic, complex, and empowering portrayals for women of color on screen.

"There's something about putting your foot down and saying, 'This is my vision and I'm going to fight for it.' It's a beautiful thing."

This quote by Rachel Morrison emphasizes the importance of personal conviction and determination in achieving one's goals or visions. When someone "puts their foot down" and asserts their beliefs, they are demonstrating unwavering commitment and resolve to fight for what they believe in. This act is portrayed as empowering because it showcases courage, self-assurance, and the will to persist despite potential obstacles or challenges. The quote implies that pursuing one's vision with tenacity can be a source of inspiration and beauty, as it highlights the human spirit's ability to persevere and make a difference in their own lives and the world around them.

"I don't want to just make movies that are entertaining; I want to make movies that provoke thought and inspire action."

This quote highlights Rachel Morrison's commitment to creating films that not only entertain audiences, but also challenge their perspectives and motivate them to take action. She aspires to use her craft to spark meaningful conversations and encourage positive change in society through powerful storytelling.

Photography was a way for me to freeze time and to capture the moments that were happy and healthy. I saw a photo as a way to go back to a memory if I ever needed to.

- Rachel Morrison

Happy, Memory, Needed, Photography

I love faces that have freckles. I love faces that have wrinkles. For me, beauty is naturalism, I guess.

- Rachel Morrison

Love, Wrinkles, I Love, Freckles

My lighting tends to use contrast as a reflection of the stakes in the scene. The higher the stakes, the more I feel I can get away with an exaggerated contrast.

- Rachel Morrison

Reflection, Away, Use, Exaggerated

I gravitate much more toward realism, realism in the work that I do, but magical realism got me hooked on film. I think it was my first time realizing that there was something besides popcorn movies.

- Rachel Morrison

Think, I Think, Gravitate, Realizing

I did photography in summer camp; I did it in high school. The only hard decision I've had to make was whether to go towards photo or film. And I ultimately realized that the type of photo I was interested in was actually photojournalism. And it's a very individualist career, whereas film is a very team-driven medium. So that's why I chose film.

- Rachel Morrison

Career, Summer Camp, Very, Chose

My wife jokes that any time I want to take a picture of her, it has nothing to do with her - it's just because the light is really nice. She's usually right. I definitely am somebody who notices the way the light skips off the floor.

- Rachel Morrison

Her, Because, Floor, Notices

My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was four. And she was re-diagnosed when I was seven or eight, and again when I was 13, and my dad was very unhealthy, too. I was living on the edge of mortality my entire childhood.

- Rachel Morrison

Childhood, Living, Very, Unhealthy

I've had something like seven films at Sundance, one of which won the Grand Jury Prize.

- Rachel Morrison

Which, Films, Sundance, Grand Jury

Cinematography is so much about instinct and intuition - you want the same range of experience going into behind the camera as what you see in front of it. Your life experience will come through the lens.

- Rachel Morrison

Behind, Through, Going, Lens

So much of 'Mudbound' is about man's relationship to the land and to the elements. It's about the desire for control and how powerless we are against nature. We always knew we would shoot widescreen as a means to isolate a body in the frame and to highlight our own insignificance.

- Rachel Morrison

Own, Against, About, Insignificance

The theatrical experience is also a communal one. When people saw 'Fruitvale' in the theater, there was not a dry eye at the end of the movie, and you would look to your neighbor and have this shared moment together that had a real weight behind it.

- Rachel Morrison

Behind, Shared, Theatrical, Communal

When you're so used to operating the camera, it's an extension of your eye and your heart and your head.

- Rachel Morrison

Eye, Head, Extension, Camera

For me, it's always been about the work - it wasn't about, 'Let's go break some ceilings.' I just wanted to tell an important story and do the best work I can. Everything else is secondary.

- Rachel Morrison

Tell, Some, Been, Secondary

I believe in naturalistic lighting, which isn't to say natural light.

- Rachel Morrison

Light, Natural, Which, Naturalistic

When shooting in real spaces, the work of a cinematographer begins where location meets production design meets time of day. No movie light will ever look as real as the sun, so scheduling becomes truly paramount to naturalistic lighting.

- Rachel Morrison

Shooting, Movie, Production, Naturalistic

I find beauty in imperfection.

- Rachel Morrison

Beauty, Find, Imperfection

We shot 'Mudbound' in the South in the summer, which meant we were working in extreme heat and humidity at all times and that it could go from glaring sun to overcast skies to pouring rain in a matter of minutes, often shifting multiple times a day.

- Rachel Morrison

Heat, Matter, South, Pouring

The first female DPs that I was aware of were Ellen Kuras, Mandy Walker, Nancy Schreiber, Amy Vincent, Sandi Sissel, Maryse Alberti and Tami Reiker. You look for a role model as somebody who looks like yourself and is doing what you want to do; they were the handful.

- Rachel Morrison

Doing, Role, Ellen, Walker

Your movie becomes much more narrow-minded when you have like-minded department heads. Whereas if you can surround yourself with people who have been a mother before, been a grandmother before, you get a much broader and wide-reaching swath of human emotions.

- Rachel Morrison

Movie, Been, Before, Broader

For me, I just like new challenges.

- Rachel Morrison

Challenges, New, Like, New Challenges

Usually, if you notice good cinematography, then the cinematographer's failing. I try to make light feel like it's always motivated and natural in some way and hope that the lighting goes unnoticed.

- Rachel Morrison

Hope, Feel, Some, Cinematographer

The cinematographer's basically translating the director's vision into imagery.

- Rachel Morrison

Vision, Imagery, Translating, Cinematographer

A period film is a gift for a cinematographer.

- Rachel Morrison

Gift, Film, Period, Cinematographer

I really do believe that the experience of having a child is going to actually make me a much better cinematographer.

- Rachel Morrison

Believe, Going, Having, Cinematographer

Life is unpredictable, and I feel, to some extent, lighting and cinematography should be a reflection of that.

- Rachel Morrison

Reflection, Some, Extent, Cinematography

Cinematography speaks to everything that women do inherently well: It's multitasking, it's empathy, and it's channeling visuals into human emotion.

- Rachel Morrison

Empathy, Visuals, Inherently, Cinematography

When I was studying photography, I became interested in conflict photojournalism, and that got me interested in lighting. Then I realized there was this amazing thing called cinematography where you could kind of tell more complete stories photographing for film. So I ended up going to AFI grad school for that.

- Rachel Morrison

Tell, Got, Became, Cinematography

I don't love cinematography that's very flashy because I find that it keeps the audience from becoming a part of the film; it becomes sort of self-reflective.

- Rachel Morrison

Love, Audience, Very, Cinematography

The only consistency in the work I do is that I try to use cinematography to best tell the narrative and do justice to the character arcs, but not to do it in such an overt way that people are distracted by it.

- Rachel Morrison

Work, Tell, Use, Cinematography

Authenticity, to me, is something that you feel, and if it doesn't feel authentic, you pick up on it right away.

- Rachel Morrison

Authenticity, Feel, Away, Right Away

Half of 'Mudbound' were shots I stole in between other scenes.

- Rachel Morrison

Other, Half, Were, Stole

The biggest difference for me was that I operated almost every frame on 'Mudbound,' and I didn't operate on 'Black Panther.'

- Rachel Morrison

Almost, Biggest Difference, Frame

I'll never know what happens behind closed doors or why I don't get hired for things.

- Rachel Morrison

Doors, Behind, Why, Closed Doors

My experience - I'll never know what happens behind closed doors or why I don't get hired for something, but I've never had an experience that made me feel any less than.

- Rachel Morrison

Behind, Why, Made, Closed Doors

My dad, before he passed away, never understood what I did. What I say is that I'm responsible for translating the director's vision, hopefully turning an idea into something people can connect to and relate to.

- Rachel Morrison

Away, Before, Translating, Understood

To me, as an audience member, movies always come to a screeching halt when they get to their action scenes. They always feel like they drag on to me.

- Rachel Morrison

Always, Audience Member, Drag

You just sort of get used to being one of the only women on set, so it's really refreshing to start to enter a time when that's not the case anymore.

- Rachel Morrison

Start, Set, Sort, Refreshing

I didn't want 'Mudbound' to feel stylized in any way.

- Rachel Morrison

Want, Feel, Any, Stylized

It's always a challenge to shoot a period film and not have it look like you hit the tea stain button in post.

- Rachel Morrison

Always, Like, Period, Button

The focus has to be about making good work. I don't ever want to be hired for a job because I'm a woman. And I don't ever want to be recognized for a job because I'm a woman.

- Rachel Morrison

Work, Woman, Making, Hired

I came up in photography, and Dust Bowl-era photography is a lot of the reason that I got behind the camera in the first place.

- Rachel Morrison

Reason, Behind, Got, Camera

I lived within walking distance of Harvard Square, and that's where I discovered my love of cinema. I saw a lot of foreign and independent films there.

- Rachel Morrison

Love, Discovered, Films, Harvard

Documentaries are inherently instinctual; you're constantly moment to moment, determining what the best place for the camera is to tell the story, usually in service of natural lighting.

- Rachel Morrison

Natural, Tell, Inherently, Camera

I was probably five when I first picked up a camera. My mom had an Olympus OM-10 that she carried around to document our family photos. And I just always loved it.

- Rachel Morrison

Always, Carried, Document, Camera

Part of the reason why I love to operate is because I find that so much of what we do is instinctual. It's dancing with the actors and responding to their body language, and you feel what the right place for the camera is at any given moment.

- Rachel Morrison

Love, Dancing, Reason, Camera

I kind of grew up with a camera in my hand.

- Rachel Morrison

Kind, Up, Grew, Camera

It would be naive to say that you could make a movie on film for the same price you can digitally.

- Rachel Morrison

Movie, Same, Would, Naive

You can only shoot small movies and documentaries for so long if you want to have a family that you support; eventually, you need to get let into the big leagues.

- Rachel Morrison

Small, Big, Big Leagues, Documentaries

Lighting practically whenever I can when shooting period really helps with authenticity.

- Rachel Morrison

Period, Whenever, Helps

It's hard to go back to shooting contemporary apartment interiors after you shoot something like 'Mudbound.'

- Rachel Morrison

Shooting, Go, Like, Shoot

I think Marvel's incredibly supportive of young auteurs and really let them do their thing and support their vision. They give you a sandbox to play in, but it's a pretty massive one.

- Rachel Morrison

Play, Think, Supportive, Sandbox

'Fruitvale' set the bar for what I wanted to do with my career, which was to make films that had consciousness and messaging in an entertaining package. Once I hit that mark, I never wanted to go back.

- Rachel Morrison

Career, Which, Films, Mark

There's something so inspiring about being in real locations, where you can feel the tactile qualities from the layer of paint that has been chipping off and the hundreds of years that have been lived in the space.

- Rachel Morrison

Been, About, Tactile, Hundreds

For me, it's just always about trying to tell stories that I care about.

- Rachel Morrison

Trying, Always, Stories, I Care

I think you can make a gorgeous movie on any piece of equipment. Look at 'Tangerine,' which is a beautiful movie shot on an iPhone. You see so many movies that are impeccably shot but are vapid, and there's no audience for that except for other cinematographers who just like to watch two-hour-long music videos.

- Rachel Morrison

Movie, Other, I Think, iPhone

I pour my blood, sweat, and tears into a movie. What I always look for is a message and a social consciousness: a relevance to what's happening in our world.

- Rachel Morrison

Tears, Movie, Always, Pour

Having a family is a compromise on some level, but it's so incredibly worth it. It actually informs the work that I do as a DP.

- Rachel Morrison

Some, Level, Having, Compromise

The big trick is just to get to a point where we're just considered DPs, and we're not 'female DPs.' When you think of the word 'doctor' or 'teacher,' you don't think gender. And it would be nice to get to a place where 'DP' meant either and 'director' meant either and 'gaffer' meant either.

- Rachel Morrison

Gender, Big, Considered, Female

I think 'Sound of My Voice' was the first film where suddenly I could point to something I had done that I was proud of and say, 'Look at this piece of work.' And that's probably what led to 'Fruitvale Station,' which was the real break.

- Rachel Morrison

Voice, Sound, I Think, Station

I shot 'Fruitvale Station' on super-16, and then I shot a movie called 'The Harvest' on 35mm, and then I shot 'Little Accidents' on 2-perf 35.

- Rachel Morrison

Harvest, Movie, Then, Station

I think lighting is a reflection of what is at stake emotionally in a movie.

- Rachel Morrison

Think, I Think, Stake, Lighting

I think there's this assumption that everybody would rather be a director, and I don't know that that's the case for me, so we'll see.

- Rachel Morrison

Think, Everybody, I Think, Assumption

It took me a long time to adapt to the West Coast. I lived eight years in New York before California and might have gone back. Then I discovered surfing. It's the California equivalent of ice hockey, I guess. It gave me a real sense of place.

- Rachel Morrison

Discovered, Equivalent, Adapt

We really owe it to our world to infuse our entertainment with messaging.

- Rachel Morrison

World, Entertainment, Owe, Messaging

Surfing is incredible. It's both meditative and physical. I think it was my way into California.

- Rachel Morrison

Think, Surfing, I Think, Both

Sometimes it just takes a little longer to get to your destination, but if you make sure to enjoy the journey, eventually you will get there.

- Rachel Morrison

Journey, Will, Sure, Takes

I might be one of the very few people in this industry who doesn't have a 'me too' story.

- Rachel Morrison

Might, Industry, Very, Few People

If there's anything consistent about my work, it's not flat.

- Rachel Morrison

Work, Consistent, About, Flat

Photos have the real task of bringing exposure to places that we otherwise don't have much awareness of.

- Rachel Morrison

Places, Task, Otherwise, Bringing

I love the team aspect of filmmaking.

- Rachel Morrison

Love, Team, I Love, Aspect

The best kind of entertainment is the kind that also makes you question something or think outside the box or live another life. Those are the stories that I'm drawn to.

- Rachel Morrison

Think, Question, Stories, Box

As artists, we can't help but infuse our art with our own experience, so your experience becomes informative.

- Rachel Morrison

Art, Help, Artists, Informative

Success doesn't come overnight, especially for women.

- Rachel Morrison

Success, Women, Come, Overnight

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