William Eggleston Quotes

Through your life, most people peel away the junk that's not useful, that's superfluous. You are determined to peel that away. I do one thing at a time. One man at a time. One car. One house. One child. One job.

I've never been someone who needs a lot of takes or enjoys a lot of takes. I like the fast thing of it.

Focus on one thing and do one thing well.

Sometimes great things come from doing things quickly and not over-thinking stuff.

The thing that weighs the most on how your final artwork turns out is the amount of time you have and the speed at which you can move.

I'd rather create a miniature painting than a Taj Mahal of a book.

The first thing that comes out of my mouth is always right.

One thing I learnt was that you don't have to spend all day shooting: you can get it done in half an hour if you're that talented as a cameraman.

The more you can keep your action and your mind and the ball you are delivering as simple as you can nothing can go wrong.

I only achieve simplicity with enormous effort

Move fast. A sense of urgency is the one thing you can develop that will separate you from everyone else. When you get a good idea, do it now.

Get the overall. Some of my films may have been crude at times, or tough, or missed the points, but I've tried to get the overall in. I think that's more important. You may miss a thing or two, but you move faster. If you can do it in three takes, do it in three takes.

For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.

If you can't do it with one bullet, don't do it at all.

My intention is to make interesting photographs. That's it, in the end. I don't make it up. Let's say it's a world I never made. That's what was there to deal with.

Simplicity requires ruthlessness.

Eliminate the unnecessary and focus on the substance.

Mastery comes via a monomaniacal focus on simplicity versus an addiction to complexity.

What is done well is done quickly enough.

Art is about eliminating almost everything in order to focus on the thing that you need to talk about.

The immortal photographers will be straightforward photographers, those who do not rely on tricks or special techniques.

There is but one art, to omit.

I say half jokingly that photography is the most difficult of the arts. It does require a certain arrogance to see and to choose. I feel myself walking on a tightrope instead of on the ground.

Truth and clarity are complementary.

It's actually very difficult to make something both simple and good.