John Sexton Quotes

Basically, with a regular camera, you have to take time or allow the camera to focus before you take the shot.

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

My dad had been an ardent amateur photographer, and he taught me to compose a photograph from the back to the front, and then populate the picture.

I always wanted to know what lens they were on, how close they were. I didn't do it with a plan in mind, but I would instinctively gear what I was doing toward what lenses they were using.

So the thing that's beautiful about the Rolleiflex is that I open the camera up from the top and put my face in and that the camera's all about composition and all about light.

It's just about going out and getting the shot, so I have a great understanding of how to execute it, so that really helps me, and also having a good understanding of all the action that I'm shooting, it helps me in determining how I'm going to capture it.

There are a thousand ways to point a camera, but really only one.

What I end up shooting is the situation. I shoot the composition and my subject is going to help the composition or not.

I'm just interested in what makes a photograph.

The art of photography is all about directing the attention of the viewer.

I've always been intimidated by the technicalities of taking photos, especially with a film camera - not just a point and shoot.

I became interested in photography when I found my own sketching was inadequate.

I've learned to create a palette, a vocabulary of ways to take pictures.

I don't really know how to work a camera.

Cinema is a matter of what's in the frame and what's out.

No photographer is as good as the simplest camera.

The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt.

If your pictures are not good enough, it’s because you are not close enough.

If I have to point to something specific with the way I move my camera, I love to do it with a wide lens. I like to show you as much of the space as I can, even if I'm following a character.

I never work with a screen. Other photographers have this black thing around, and they go back and look at it. I'd rather spend the time with the subject, photographing or discussing or talking, than staring at this thing. I'd rather look at what's going on.

I love a well composed shot. It doesn't necessarily have to be beautiful, but it must be well composed.

You start blocking out things, and that's a really important part of taking a picture is the ability to isolate what you're - what you're concentrating on.

I have a low-tech camera with one lens that I've shot everything in my life on. My subjects and my subject matter sometimes really are powerful, and so my job is to get it into focus.

There's one right place to put the camera. I'm a big believer in that. You'd think you could put it anywhere. Nope.

I seldom think when I take a picture. My eyes and fingers react - click. But first, it's most important to decide on the angle at which your photograph is to be taken.