If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.
Meaning of the quote
"If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough." This quote means that to take great photos, you need to get closer to your subject. The closer you are, the more detail and emotion you can capture in your pictures. Being further away can make your photos look less interesting or powerful. The best photographers move in close to their subjects to get the most impactful and memorable shots.
About Robert Capa
Robert Capa, a Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist, is considered by some to be the greatest combat and adventure photographer in history. He covered five major wars, including the Spanish Civil War, World War II, and the First Indochina War, and was awarded the Medal of Freedom for his work documenting World War II. Capa co-founded the influential Magnum Photos cooperative agency in Paris.
More quotes from Robert Capa
The war correspondent has his stake – his life – in his own hands, and he can put it on this horse or that horse, or he can put it back in his pocket at the very last minute.
American photographer
The truth is the best picture, the best propaganda.
American photographer
It’s not always easy to stand aside and be unable to do anything except record the sufferings around one.
American photographer
I hope to stay unemployed as a war photographer till the end of my life.
American photographer
This war is like an actress who is getting old. It is less and less photogenic and more and more dangerous.
American photographer
If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.
American photographer
For a war correspondent to miss an invasion is like refusing a date with Lana Turner.
American photographer
I would say that the war correspondent gets more drinks, more girls, better pay, and greater freedom than the soldier, but at this stage of the game, having the freedom to choose his spot and being allowed to be a coward and not be executed for it is his torture.
American photographer
In a war, you must hate somebody or love somebody; you must have a position or you cannot stand what goes on.
American photographer
It’s not enough to have talent, you also have to be Hungarian.
American photographer
The pictures are there, and you just take them.
American photographer
I am a gambler. I decided to go in with Company E in the first wave.
American photographer