Ruth Bernhard

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

“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.”

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

“Photographs speak to me, and I obey.”

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

“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.”

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

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

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

“Everything I do is a metaphor of the universal order.”

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

“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.”

“I feel that is more important than my work, the influence I have on my students.”

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

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

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

“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.”