Ruth Bernhard Quotes

To indicate the ideal proportion and reveal sculptural mass and the dominating spirit is my goal.

- Ruth Bernhard

The ground we walk on, the plants and creatures, the clouds above constantly dissolving into new formations - each gift of nature possessing its own radiant energy, bound together by cosmic harmony.

- Ruth Bernhard

To me... San Francisco is an ideal city, intellectually stimulating and naturally beautiful. The oceans and forests are close enough to refresh the spirit; the architecture is always exciting.

- Ruth Bernhard

I was a very, very careful printer when I used 8-by-10 film. I probably spent more time on printing than anything else. The more the prints were appreciated, the more time I spent on them.

- Ruth Bernhard

I understood the craft of photography when done by an artist is art.

- Ruth Bernhard

If I have chosen the female form in particular, it is because beauty has been debased and exploited in our sensual 20th century.

- Ruth Bernhard

To raise, to elevate, to endorse with timeless reverence the image of woman has been my mission.

- Ruth Bernhard

I allowed life to give me presents. And everything just sort of happened the way it was supposed to happen. I did not pursue anything. It more or less pursued me.

- Ruth Bernhard

Everything I do is a metaphor of the universal order.

- Ruth Bernhard

I think of the nudes as seed pods, like flowers or grasses. They are universal bodies.

- Ruth Bernhard

My quest, through the magic of light and shadow, is to isolate, to simplify, and to give emphasis to form with the greatest clarity.

- Ruth Bernhard

I learned early on that if I was to get attention, I would have to be charming. Even the models I've photographed are often like that. Some of them are not beautiful. But, if you catch them in the right light, they glow.

- Ruth Bernhard

I had a natural feeling for sculpture, and the nudes are my sculpture.

- Ruth Bernhard

When I was young, anywhere I would go in Germany, I would see my father's posters. Everyone knew about him. And he had many friends who were artists who were also quite famous. So, for me, it seemed very natural to be an artist and be known.

- Ruth Bernhard

I never question what to do, it tells me what to do. The photographs make themselves with my help.

- Ruth Bernhard

Photographs speak to me, and I obey.

- Ruth Bernhard

I've always photographed beauty, but I've never been beautiful myself.

- Ruth Bernhard

I always say yes to everything because I always feel that whatever comes my way, life meant for me.

- Ruth Bernhard

I never took a photograph. Instead, I became a good listener.

- Ruth Bernhard

I look at ordinary objects, and I see things that other people don't see. That's why I'm a photographer.

- Ruth Bernhard

I have no regrets about my work. To be a photographer was a gift of the gods. I can't imagine anything that would have been better.

- Ruth Bernhard

I feel that everything has to come from the heart, and it cannot come from the intellect.

- Ruth Bernhard

It seems a perfectly normal thing to be 95.

- Ruth Bernhard

I'm no snapshot artist. I make very careful choices always, even if I'm using a 35mm camera.

- Ruth Bernhard