Mood
Over time the art of photography has changed greatly. But one thing has not changed, and that is the creativity that can be achieved. In fact, the number one determining factor for a great photograph is mood. The magic of photography is metaphysical. What you see in the photograph isn't what you saw at the time. The real skill of photography is organized visual lying.
Lighting
Shutter speed and aperture are also valuable tools when trying to capture the mood. Creating a narrow depth of field, for example, will throw much of the frame out of focus, and can create interesting, dreamlike effects. Creative use of lighting is one of the most important tools for establishing a mood.
Concept
Ideas themselves may be treated as artworks. When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silent. There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. We must remember that a photograph can hold just as much as we put into it, and no one has ever approached the full possibilities of the medium.
Photography
To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them. I have always preferred the reflection of the life to life itself. Photography gives us a unique way to stop time, magnify small subjects, bring the near closer and change our perspective on the world around us.
What is a good photograph? I cannot say. A photograph is tied to the time, what is good today may be a cliché tomorrow. The problem of the photographer is to discover his own language, a visual ABC. The picture represents the feelings and point of view of the intelligence behind the camera. This disease of our age is boredom and a good photographer must combat it. The way to do this is by invention – by surprise. When I say a good picture has surprise value I mean that it stimulates my thinking and intrigues me. The best way to achieve surprise quality is by avoiding clichés.
I like to look at pictures, all kinds. And all those things you absorb come out subconsciously one way or another. You'll be taking photographs and suddenly know that you have resources from having looked at a lot of them before. There is no way you can avoid this. But this kind of subconscious influence is good, and it certainly can work for one. In fact, the more pictures you see, the better you are as a photographer.
I photograph the things that I do not wish to paint, the things which already have an existence. It has never been my object to record my dreams, just the determination to realize them.
And in fact I don't believe there is such a thing as a definitive picture of something. The land is a living, breathing thing and light changes its character every second of every day.
Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world.
The beauty of the past belongs to the past. Photography helps people to see.
You know what a camera is? A mirror with memory. Photography is a major force in explaining man to man.