Have you ever felt stressed, down, or overwhelmed and gone straight to posting a photo to get it off your chest? That’s just a small glimpse into the introspective and healing power of photography, especially when you’re struggling with depression or anxiety.
Here are 29 quotes to help empower you towards a better life and handle depression through your photos.
1. “Every day over one billion photos are shared online and I believe we are standing on top of a massive opportunity to change how we see and talk about mental health.” – Bryce Evans
2. “The language of photography is symbolic.” — Sebastiao Salgado
3. “I wish more people felt that photography was an adventure the same as life itself and felt that their individual feelings were worth expressing. To me, that makes photography more exciting.” — Harry Callahan
4. “The moment the shutter clicked, I felt a shift within me.” — Bryce Evans
5. “Because it’s free, easy to use, and high-quality, photography is now a fixture in our daily lives – something we take for granted.” — Peter Diamandis
6. “The painter constructs, the photographer discloses.” ― Susan Sontag
7. “We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.” — Ralph Hattersley
8. “You cannot see the light without the darkness.” — Bryce Evans
9. “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”
― Dorothea Lange
10. “When I look at my old pictures, all I can see is what I used to be but am no longer. I think: What I can see is what I am not.”
― Aleksandar Hemon
11. “A photograph is usually looked at- seldom looked into.”
― Ansel Adams
12. “A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense and is thereby a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.” ― Ansel Adams
13. “If we want to change how we see these issues – I think the very thing we need is a new lens to see them through” — Bryce Evans
14. “It is through living that we discover ourselves, at the same time as we discover the world around us.”
― Henri Cartier-Bresson
15. “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.” — Elliott Erwitt
16. “There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.” — Ernst Haas
17. “When I first became interested in photography, I thought it was the whole cheese. My idea was to have it recognized as one of the fine arts. Today I don’t give a hoot in hell about that. The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each man to himself.” — Edward Steichen
18. “Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” — George Eastman
19. “Imagine if every photo was an opportunity to start speaking out about your own depression” – Bryce Evans
20. “Does not the very word ‘creative’ mean to build, to initiate, to give out, to act – rather than to be acted upon, to be subjective? Living photography is positive in its approach, it sings a song of life – not death.” — Berenice Abbott
21. “Every photo and story is a practice of introspection, personal growth, and a vulnerable act of courage to build empathy.” — Bryce Evans
22. “How you see photos and what you see in them is a reflection of how you see the world.” — Bryce Evans
23. “Photography, for me, is something I can control fully. It’s wholly my own expressions.” — Mia Wasikowska
24. “Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.” — Ansel Adams
25. “One advantage of photography is that it’s visual and can transcend language.” — Lisa Kristine
26. “With photography a new language has been created. Now for the first time it is possible to express reality by reality. We can look at an impression as long as we wish, we can delve into it and, so to speak, renew past experiences at will.” — Ernst Haas
27. “With photography, you zero in; you put a lot of energy into short moments, and then you go on to the next thing.” — Robert Mapplethorpe
28. “Photography must be integrated with the story.” — James Wong Howe
29. “If you find yourself stuck in darkness, the first thing to do is find and start capturing the light.” – Bryce Evans
